Legacy
by Sharkdiver1980
Summary: Hermione discovers that all hope is not lost following her parent's death, when she finds a familiar face at Wool's Orphanage. Tom Riddle, her best and only friend opens her eyes to a new world she never knew existed; a world of magic, mystery, and excitement, though all is not as it seems. Rated M for future Chapters. Tomione
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

 **AN: Another one. This one is going to be more of a Drama/Angst/Romance, rather than my usual comedies. I love the idea of Hermione and Tom meeting as children, and how their friendship impacts one another. I also wanted this to be more of a 'coming of age' sort of romance, so there will be a slow buildup. This story is obviously AU, as Hermione and Tom are the same age, and there is no time travel, though it takes place in the 40's. There is magic, and they will be attending Hogwarts together. Let me know what you think! Note: I have changed some facts for the purposes of this fic.**

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"Hermione dear, don't wander too far." Her mother called out to her as she looked back over her shoulder where mother was sunbathing.

"Yes, mum." she called back obediently, and continued walking down to the water's edge. The water was cold as it lapped against her small toes, but was a refreshing respite from the oppressive late afternoon heat. She walked along the water's edge until she came upon a rocky outcropping. She lifted her hand to keep the sun from her eyes, and studied the small rocky hill, deciding to climb over it to see if there were tidal pools on the other side where she might find small fish or crabs.

As she pulled herself up and over the final boulder, she was surprised to see a boy who appeared to be about her age sitting at the edge of one of the small pools throwing bits of seaweed into it.

"Oh, hello." Hermione said politely, brushing a few of her escaped curls back from her face.

The boy looked up at her with a startled expression that he quickly hid with a scowl.

"Who're you?" he asked bluntly, his dark eyes narrowing as he studied her. She had long wildly curly brown hair that was barely restrained by a light blue ribbon, a heart-shaped face with a smattering of freckles over her small pointed nose, pale pink lips that formed a small smile, and a light blue striped bathing suit covering her sun-kissed skin. It only took him a moment to recognize that this girl was _not_ like him; she came from a wealthy family, if her expensive looking swim suit and hair ribbon were anything to go by.

"I'm Hermione. And you are?" she asked in the same overly polite manner, as she took a few steps forward and knelt down at the edge of the small pool across from him. Clearly, his previous rudeness was not enough to deter her, and he sighed.

"Tom." He answered shortly, once again picking up the seaweed and flicking small bits into the pool to watch the crabs fight over it.

Her eyes lit up as they fell on the small green crabs in the tidal pool, " _Carcinus maenas_!"

He looked at her again, furrowing his brows at her, "What?"

" _Carcinus maenas_ " she pointed to the small crabs in the pool, "They're Green crabs. Did you know that they are an invasive species? And that the females can produce up to 185,000 eggs at one time?" Hermione said excitedly as she bent forward to get a closer look.

Tom snorted, "You're odd."

Hermione looked back up at him through narrowed eyes with an annoyed huff, "Just because I enjoy learning, does _not_ make me odd, Tom." She admonished

Tom continued to study her for a moment, and seemed to make a decision.

"I'm going for a swim, are you coming?" he asked as he stood looking at her expectantly.

She glared at him for another minute before she finally gave a small nod and followed him back down the rocky hill to the water. They swam for the better part of an hour, and eventually moved back to the shallows where they could touch the bottom with their toes.

"How old are you?" he asked, as he peered over at her.

"Nine, but I'll be ten just next month." She answered, "What about you?"

"Ten, but I'll be eleven soon." He said giving her a small smirk as if him being slightly older allowed him some form of authority over her.

Just as she was about to speak, she heard her mother calling her.

"That's my mum." Hermione said with a hint of annoyance as she began to make her way towards the beach. Tom followed, walking alongside her silently until they saw her mother approaching wearing a dark blue cover up, a wide brimmed sun hat, and sun glasses.

"Hermione, dear, come, it's time to go." Her mother said shooting a disapproving look over at Tom that clearly said she did not appreciate his presence.

Hermione turned back and smiled at Tom over her shoulder, "Goodbye, Tom." Giving him a small wave as she dutifully followed along behind her mother.

As they walked away from him, he heard Hermione's mother admonishing her daughter, "Really, Hermione, how many times have I told you to stay away from those street urchins!" and he felt anger flare in his chest. As he continued to watch them walk across the beach, Hermione looked back at him once more with a small smile. It was only a moment later that he heard Mrs. Cole's whistle, signaling that it was time to return to the Orphanage.

 **ooOo0oOoo**

The next summer, Tom sat at the edge of the tidal pool, examining the small periwinkles that were stuck to the rocks, and he found himself wondering what Hermione would say about them. He hadn't seen her again since that day they spent swimming the summer before, and he was annoyed with himself when he realized he was hoping he would run into her again. He was shaken from his thoughts a moment later when a familiar voice giggled, "I thought I'd find you here."

He looked up sharply, surprised to see Hermione standing on the opposite side of the small pool. She'd grown a few inches since he'd seen her last, but she still wore the same kind smile.

"I didn't realize you were looking for me." He said raising an eyebrow at her in a way that made him look much older. He too had grown taller, and his voice had grown a bit deeper since the las time they spoke.

Hermione blushed at his implication, and stammered nervously, "Well, I meant that of all places, I'm not surprised to find you here near the tide pools."

He smirked, not missing the way her eyes met his and quickly darted away as her cheeks reddened. He was aware that he was handsome although he was still young, and he enjoyed using it to his advantage.

"Up for a swim, or are you worried you'll upset your mum?" he asked in challenge, hoping she would accept.

"What my mum doesn't know won't hurt her." Hermione smirked back at him as her eyes sparkled with mischief.

He reached his hand towards her, and she grasped it, her small fingers folding neatly in his, as he pulled her down to the water.

"First one to that cave over there wins!" Tom called as he dove into the water and began swimming toward it, not looking back to see if she was following; he knew she was.

By the time he reached the rocky shore where the opening to the cave was, he saw Hermione right behind him.

"That's not fair, you cheated." She complained, as he grasped her hand to help her climb over the rocks.

"No, I'm just faster than you." He said looking back at her giving her a teasing smile.

The cave was dark, though it was light enough to see just inside the opening while the sun was still high in the sky.

Tom found a large slab of rock, and he laid back on it, pulling Hermione down beside him.

"So do you go to the public school?" Hermione asked breaking the silence that had fallen between them.

Tom's eyes darted to hers, and he nibbled on his bottom lip thoughtfully.

"I did, but I'm going to a new school this year." He said debating with himself on how much he should tell her. Her mother's cruel words echoed in his mind, and suddenly, he felt a strong desire to show her that he wasn't some common piece of trash. He was _better_.

Hermione was looking at him expectantly, and he sat up and faced her, "If I show you something, can you swear to keep it a secret?" he asked

A look of excitement lit up Hermione's eyes, and she nodded, "Yes, I promise!"

He looked around for a moment, his eyes falling on a small sharp rock. He picked it up, and made a small cut on his palm, watching as the blood began to well up.

"Tom!" Hermione cried, "What are you doing?!" she said reaching to pull the rock away from his hand and he caught her wrist.

"You have to swear Hermione, I'm serious. Swear it in blood." He said holding the small rock against the palm of her hand, looking into her eyes for her permission.

Finally, she nodded, and winced as she felt the sharp edge of the rock digging into her skin, turning her head away at the sight of the blood. He tossed the rock aside and clasped his still bleeding hand against hers.

"Now swear it." He commanded her sharply, his dark gaze boring into hers.

"I swear, that I won't tell anyone as long as I live." She said meeting his eyes defiantly, raising her eyebrows at him impatiently, "There, will you show me now?"

The corner of his lips twitched at her impatience, and he closed his eyes for a moment, seemingly to concentrate, and then he began _hissing_.

Hermione furrowed her brows in confusion and made to lean away from him wondering if he was mentally unstable until she heard a second hiss coming from somewhere behind her. She gasped in fright as a small snake slithered out of the darkness and made its way over to Tom. She watched in awe as the snake stopped before him, and reared up, it's black tongue flicking out, and its beady eyes trained on him. It hissed back, and Tom smiled before he turned to Hermione with a curious look.

Hermione turned to see the snake watching her closely, and she didn't dare to breathe lest she provoke it into attacking her.

"Did…did that snake just _speak_ to you? She asked in disbelief

Tom nodded, biting his lower lip, "Yes. He asked if you were magic too." Tom said turning to look at her curiously, "Are you?" he asked.

Hermione took a deep breath. It never occurred to her that what she'd been experiencing her entire life could be called _magic_ , especially since her parents constantly scolded her for accidentally making things happen. Behind closed doors, they referred to it as ' _Hermione's little problem'_.

Rather than answer, she turned her head and focused on a piece of driftwood that sat nearby. Tom followed her gaze, and he watched in awe as the driftwood suddenly went up in blue colored flames.

When she turned back to him, the flames extinguished on their own accord, and she blushed at the look of admiration he was giving her.

"Is it really _magic_?" she asked him.

"Yes. A man came to see me. He told me that the reason I've been able to do things that the other kids can't, is because I'm a wizard. "he answered.

Hermione snorted, " _Wizards_? You're having me on."

"I know, it sounds like something out of a book, doesn't it? But, apparently, it's real." Tom said shrugging his shoulders.

"So is that why you're changing schools? To learn more about magic?" Hermione asked with a hint of jealousy.

He nodded, "Yes, I've been accepted at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry." He said noticing the look on her face he quickly added, "I'm sure by this time next summer, you'll have been accepted there too."

Her eyes brightened at his words, "Do you think so?"

He gave her a small smile and pulled her back down beside him on the rock, "Sure. And when you come to school there, I'll already be there waiting for you. We can study together."

The thought warmed her until the realization washed over her that her parents would most likely not allow her to go, and she frowned.

"What's wrong?" he asked sensing her change in mood.

"My parents don't like it when I make things happen. It scares them I think. What if they don't let me go, Tom?" she asked looking up at him with her large brown eyes.

The thought filled him with rage that they would hold her back from becoming what she was meant to become, and he vowed that he wouldn't let that happen.

"They won't. I'll make sure of it." He said in a way that made a chill run down her spine.

 **ooOo0oOoo**

Hermione's hands were trembling as she stepped out of the taxi, and stared up at the wrought iron gate in front of her. She swiped her hand over her cheek to wipe away her tears, taking a deep breath and lifting her suitcase as she began to make her way up to the door. An older woman with a stern face and a faded blue frock answered the door, looking down at her.

"Miss Granger?" The woman asked.

Hermione nodded, looking down at her shoes.

"Well come on then, I haven't all day." She said in exasperation as she turned on her heel and marched back inside, leaving Hermione little choice other than to follow along behind her.

The woman stepped inside a small cramped office, and gestured for Hermione to take a seat.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Miss Granger, as I understand it, your parents were killed in a fire just recently?"

Hermione sniffed at the reminder, and brushed the tears from her cheeks as she nodded, "Yes, ma'am."

"And you have no other living relatives that wished to claim you?" she asked again with her hands folded over the desk.

"No, Ma'am." Hermione answered quietly.

"Well, I've received all of your paperwork of course, as you're a ward of the state now; however I wish to remind you that we have strict rules here at Wool's, that I expect to be followed. Breakfast is served promptly at 7am, followed by assigned chores. You are not to leave the premises without express permission, and not without an adult chaperone. Lunch is served at noon, Dinner at six, Lights out at 9pm, _no exceptions_. One of the other girls will show you to your room; you may rest for the evening, given the circumstances."

Hermione nodded silently, and the woman stood from her desk and beckoned to one of the other orphan girls to come in.

"Miss Granger, this is Kelly Hanson. She'll show you to your room." The matron said in a tone that was a clear dismissal.

Hermione rose from her seat silently, and picked up her suitcase following the blond girl out of the office and to the stairs.

Once they were out of ear shot from the older woman, the girl, Kelly, turned to her, "You have nice clothes. You should hide them." She whispered to Hermione, who gave her a confused look.

"Why?" Hermione asked

"Because some of the other girls might try to steal them." Kelly said shrugging as if it were obvious.

Hermione gaped at her, wondering how her life could have possibly ended up this way; she was supposed to be on holiday this summer with her parents in Greece, but in the blink of an eye, everything had changed. Had she not been away at boarding school when the fire broke out, she would have likely met the same fate. Now, she was an orphan; a ' _street urchin_ ' as her mother would have said. Her mind drifted back to the last time she saw him at the beach, and she wondered if she would ever see him again. It seemed like a miracle then, just as she reached the top of the stairs, when Tom stepped out of his room and met her surprised gaze.

"Tom!" Hermione said as relief flooded through her, and she flung herself into his arms. She had known he had come from 'lower means', but he had never mentioned that he was an orphan, and she never asked. The thought that she wouldn't be alone after all filled her with immense relief.

Kelly watched in shock as the new girl threw her arms around Tom Riddle's neck. None of the other kids at the orphanage would dare to even _look_ at him, never mind embrace him willingly as this girl was.

Tom wrapped his arms around her tentatively, scowling at Kelly who read his message loud and clear and walked back down the stairs and out of sight.

"Thank God, you're here, Tom. This has all been like some horrible nightmare…" Hermione was saying as he leaned back from her and grasped her hand in his. She followed him to the empty room across the hall from his that she assumed was to be hers.

"I heard about your parents; their picture was in the newspaper. I'm sorry." He said giving her an unreadable look as she sat on the bare mattress across from him, once again dissolving into tears.

"Everything is gone." Hermione whispered as her shoulders shook, wiping her eyes on a small white handkerchief she held in her small fist.

He sat beside on her on the bed and pulled her against him, feeling her curls tickle his chin.

"Well, you have me now." He said and she tilted her face to look up at him gratefully, giving him a watery smile.

"Goodness, I haven't even asked you about Hogwarts! Is it as amazing as it sounded?" she asked grateful to change the subject.

Tom smiled, a real genuine smile, "Its _better_. I can't wait for you to see it." He said, his dark eyes glittering.

"I did get my Hogwarts letter, you were right; I am a witch. My parents thought it was all rubbish of course, and weren't going to let me attend." She said sadly, looking back down.

He tilted her chin back up to meet his eyes, "Now there's nothing stopping you." He said as he brushed a curl behind her ear.

She nodded, giving him a small half smile, "So tell me about it. What's it like there?" she asked.

"It's a _castle_ , Hermione. A real honest-to-god castle. They have four different houses there, Slytherin, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. I'm in Slytherin house of course, though you'll have to be sorted by the hat to find out which one you'll be in." he explained.

"The hat?" Hermione asked curiously.

He smile and held up his hand for her to wait a moment while he ran to get something. When he came back to her room, he was holding a large, leather bound book. On the cover, it said, _Hogwarts: A History._

"This will tell you all about Hogwarts." He said as he handed her the book, and pulled her up off the bare mattress.

"I'll tell you what; I'll help you get settled in, and then we can read together." He said and she beamed at him.

The two worked silently, making her bed with the plain cotton sheets and gray wool blanket that Wool's provided to all of the children, and hung up her clothes in the closet. She took Kelly's warning to heart, and hid some of her nicer dresses that her mother had bought for her inside a hidden compartment she had found in her armoire. When they were finished, Tom slipped behind her on the bed and pulled her back against his chest and held up _Hogwarts: A History_ so that they could read it together. He had already read it, of course, but he enjoyed it so much he decided to read it again.

After two hours, he felt her breathing even out, and realized she had fallen asleep. It was close to light's out anyway, so he gently lifted her so that he could get up, and then carefully placed her back down on the bed, covering her with the grey blanket. He left her room quietly and made his way back to his own.

He woke sometime in the night, to the sound of his door opening, and he smiled when he saw a familiar head of brown curls quickly crossing his room and climbing into bed with him. He curled up behind her, and felt his body relax back into sleep as he inhaled the scent of her lavender and vanilla shampoo.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

 **AN: You guys are seriously awesome. Over 200 views and 24 favorites just from the first chapter! Also, your reviews were amazing...Thank you! So far, I feel like this story may be some of my best writing...but that's just my opinion, I'll let you guys be the judge. I will be working on some of my other WIP as well, since I know many of you are anxiously awaiting updates! They're coming! I promise! Anyway, here is chapter 2, I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. xoxo**

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The next morning, Tom woke Hermione before the sun was up so that she could sneak back into her own room, with the promise to save her a seat at breakfast. She washed up in the small communal girl's toilet, and slipped into the faded grey cotton shift that Wool's provided to all the girls, choosing to leave her nicer clothes for special outings. After securing her riotous curls with a dark blue silk ribbon, she left the quiet of her room, and padded nervously towards the dining room. The sound of clinking silverware and the din of voices talking over each other all at once would be something she would have to get used to after having lived with only her parents at their large stately home in the suburbs. She moved to the food line, picking up a tray, a heavy ceramic plate, and her eating utensils, and wrinkled her nose as the cook plopped a spoonful of runny eggs and something that looked like lumpy oatmeal on her plate. Remembering her manners, she thanked the cook, who only lifted his eyebrows in amusement as she turned to face the rows of tables. As her eyes scanned the room, she saw Tom sitting towards the far side with a table all to himself, and she gave him a small smile as she made her way towards him.

As she took her seat across from him, she noticed that the constant chatter had stopped; she turned to look over her shoulder, to see that everyone was staring at her. She furrowed her brows in confusion, and turned back to her tray blushing.

"What are they staring at?" she whispered to Tom

His dark eyes swept the room, and one by one, the other children turned back to their plates as the clinking of silverware began again.

"They're just nosy, is all." He said dismissively, and pushed his eggs aside and took a bite of the oatmeal.

Hermione frowned, and followed his lead, taking a small bite of the oatmeal. It was bland, but it was better than nothing. The eggs certainly didn't hold any appeal.

"How can you stand it here?" she asked, she knew she sounded petulant, considering she'd only been here a single day, when he'd most likely been here the majority of his life.

He shrugged, "It's better than being on the street, I suppose." He said in a way that made her sad; truly, he didn't seem as affected by it as she had, because clearly, aside from Hogwarts, he'd never known anything better.

"I can't wait to go to Hogwarts." She said with a sigh pushing her plate away.

The mention of Hogwarts made his face light up, "I expect we'll go together to Diagon Alley to get our school supplies this year." He said

"Diagon Alley? I've never heard of it." She said raising her eyebrow at him.

"You wouldn't have; it's magic. Wait till you see it, you'll want to pinch yourself to make sure you're not dreaming; I know I did." He said giving her a small knowing smile.

She sighed dreamily, knowing that she only had to get through the summer, and then she'd be off to Hogwarts for most of the year.

"What sort of things do we need for school? Pencils and paper, I expect?" she asked and he chuckled.

"Oh no, at Hogwarts, we use parchment and quills. You'll need books of course, and a cauldron for potions class-" he began

"Potions?" she asked in awe

"Yes, not to mention transfiguration and charms, but my favorite class is Defense against the Dark Arts." He whispered conspiratorially.

She raised her eyebrows in surprise, "Dark Arts, as in-" she started

"Dark magic, yes. I've been reading up on it a bit, but unfortunately most of the books about it are in the restricted section." He grimaced.

"It sounds dangerous, Tom." Hermione said having no interest in learning about stuff like that.

"Oh, it is, but the way I see it, knowledge of any subject, including Dark Arts, can only make you more prepared to handle any situation."

She nodded at his logic, likening it to the study of martial arts; one gains the knowledge of how to fight with the hope that they will never need to use it.

"Come with me, I want to show you something." He said pulling her up and taking her tray along with his to the kitchen.

"Where are we going?" she asked as she followed him up the stairs.

He looked around quickly to make sure no one was watching, and he pushed her inside his room and stepped in behind her, quickly shutting the door. She sat herself on the edge of his bed, watching him as he moved to where his armoire stood against the wall, as he pushed it aside revealing a hole in the wooden paneling. Sitting inside, was a silver box. He picked it up, and carried it over to his bed, and sat down beside her with a mischievous smile. As he lifted the lid, her eyes widened as they fell on a pale wooden stick that had a bone-like handle.

"Is that what I think it is?" she whispered in amazement.

"It's my wand. I have to keep it hidden of course, and strictly speaking, I'm not supposed to use it outside of school." He explained.

She looked confused, "Why ever not? We're magic, aren't we? Why teach us how to use it, if we're not allowed to?" she asked.

Tom scowled, "Magic is supposed to be kept secret from the muggles-" he began before she interrupted.

"Muggles?"

"Yes, muggles. Non-magic folk, like Mrs. Cole and the others." He said with a look of disgust before he quickly returned to what he was saying, "Muggles aren't supposed to know about us, and so the Ministry – that's the Wizarding world's form of government – has created laws to restrict the use of underage magic. Once you've reached majority age, you can practice it all you like." He explained.

"What happens if you do magic when you're underage? Do you go to jail, or something?" she asked

Tom shrugged, "I don't know, but I heard you can be expelled from Hogwarts, and that's bad enough." He said.

"Will I be getting a wand?" She asked hopefully.

Tom nodded giving her a small smile, "Yes, you'll need one for school."

Her eyes lit up and she bounced in excitement at the idea, "A real wand to do real magic!"

He chuckled at her excitement, and placed the lid back on his silver box, stowing it back into its hiding place in the wall behind his armoire, just as a knock sounded on his door. Her eyes widened and she looked at him nervously.

He looked around and opened his armoire and gestured for her to crawl inside before he opened the door.

"Mister Riddle. Why aren't you downstairs with the other boys cleaning the dining room?" Mrs. Cole asked with her lips pursed and her arms folded across her chest.

"I didn't feel much like cleaning the dining room today." He said defiantly, and Hermione could imagine the look of outrage on the matron's face from the stretch of silence. Suddenly a loud slap echoed through the room, and Hermione flinched as she sat with her knees drawn into her chest inside his armoire.

"Show disrespect like that to me again, boy, and next time you'll get the strap!"

Hermione felt anger well up in her at the thought of anyone laying their hands on Tom, as she heard the footsteps leaving the room, and the door slam shut. She poked her head out of the armoire, and saw that she was alone, and she quickly scurried out to join the other girls for the daily chores, not wanting to bring the Matron's ire onto herself.

After helping the other girls scrub the floors upstairs for most of the morning, it was finally lunchtime. She made her way down to the dining room, eager to see Tom, and she was disappointed to find that he wasn't there. She took her tray and moved over to the table where she had sat with him at Breakfast, looking down at a bowl of some sort of soup that was most likely made from whatever leftover dinner they had been served the night before.

"Hey" a girl's voice called from behind her, and she turned to look over her shoulder towards the other table. There were four girls sitting there, watching her curiously, one of them she recognized as Kelly Hanson from the day she'd arrived.

"Hi." Hermione answered self-consciously as her gaze moved over each girl.

"Aren't you _scared_ of Riddle?" One of the girls asked incredulously, nodding over to the seat Tom usually occupied at meals.

Hermione furrowed her brow in confusion, "Why would I be afraid of Tom?" she asked.

A few of the girls raised their eyebrows in surprise, "He's a freak, that's why." One of them said in disbelief.

Hermione gritted her teeth angrily, "He's _not_ a freak! Now kindly mind your own business." Hermione spat at the other girl.

The girl scoffed, "Just wait, you'll see. Whenever something bad happens around here, you can be sure that Riddle's behind it. You wouldn't want to go making friends with the wrong sort." The girl said in what sounded like a warning.

"I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself, thanks." Hermione snapped back at the girl. Clearly, they were just jealous of her friendship with Tom. Even if they didn't know about magic, it was obvious that he was different. She knew better.

After ten minutes of pushing the gelatinous 'soup' around her bowl, she stood and brought her tray to the kitchen. She was walking down the hall past Mrs. Cole's office when she heard the woman speaking to someone in low tones over the phone

"..Telling you that boy isn't right. He shouldn't be near the other children; there have been incidents…"

Hermione froze. _Could she be talking about Tom?_ She pressed herself against the wall, and listened to the rest of the conversation.

"Yes, well, I do appreciate any assistance you can provide, I know that resources are limited with the current state of things, but maybe you could send someone by to make that determination? Of course. I hope to hear from you soon."

At the sound of the phone clicking back onto the receiver, she moved quickly down the hall away from the office. She didn't know where Tom was, but she had to find him. She ran quickly back up the stairs and knocked on his door, but there was no answer. Biting her lip, she made her way back downstairs, and followed the other kids outside into the fenced in yard, surely one of them must know where he was. She approached one of the other boys, a blond with a stocky build, and grasped the sleeve of his shirt from behind to get his attention.

"Excuse me…"

He sneered and spun around to look at her, "What do we have here? Hey Dennis, did you know brooms could talk?" he said to the boy on his left as he laughed down at her.

Hermione scowled. She knew her hair was unruly, but she hadn't been expecting them to be quite so rude about it. She gritted her teeth in an attempt to ignore their baiting, and asked him what she wanted to know.

"I'm looking for Tom Riddle, have you seen him?" she asked placing her hands on her hips.

The boy's eyebrows rose in surprise as he smirked down at her, "Riddle's got himself a girlfriend, now, has he?"

Hermione glared back at him, "Have you seen him, or not?" she asked in annoyance.

The older boy scoffed, "Old Mrs. Cole's prolly got him locked up in the basement again. She should keep him there if you ask me."

The other boy, Dennis, laughed, "Watch out Billy, you don't want broom head tattling on you to Riddle, now do you?"

The older boy, who she now knew as Billy, snorted, "Screw that freak Riddle, he doesn't scare me."

Hermione raced off in a huff, annoyed that the older boys were so rude, and snuck back inside to find the door to the basement. She crept quietly along the wall where Mrs. Cole's office was, and saw that she was sitting at her desk, reading. Hermione continued down the hall to the far end and opened the door that she knew must lead to the basement, trying not to make a sound. She winced as the stairs creaked under her weight, saying a silent prayer that Mrs. Cole hadn't heard. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she called out for Tom in a hushed whisper.

"Tom?" she didn't hear anything, but crept along the wall in the dark until she came upon another door with a sliver of light coming from underneath it. She tried the handle, but the door was locked. She heard movement on the other side, and knelt down to peer in though the keyhole. The lighting in the room was dim, but she could make out Tom's form lying curled up on a small cot in the corner.

"Tom?" she called and she saw him sit up at the sound of her voice, and come to the door.

"Hermione?" he asked.

"Yes, it's me. The door's locked." She said jiggling the handle to make a point.

"I know." He said in annoyance. Clearly, he knew that, or he wouldn't have been sitting in there all day. He had been tempted to try and use magic to unlock the door, but he wasn't particularly good at wandless magic as of yet, and he didn't want to risk expulsion from Hogwarts, not to mention further punishment by Mrs. Cole; she would eventually let him out, she always did.

"How can I get you out? Tell me what to do." She asked, thinking that there had to be a way to get the door open. It was inhumane to keep a child locked up like that.

He was quiet for a moment, and then he said, "Hermione, do you remember that day at the beach? When you lit the wood on fire?" he asked

"You want me to light the door on fire?" she whispered incredulously.

"No, not precisely, I mean, maybe try to use your magic to unlock it." He suggested.

"But…won't I get in trouble?" she asked, remembering what he'd told her about underage magic being restricted.

"I shouldn't think so, since you technically haven't started school yet. You could just lie and say it was an accident." He said.

Hermione bit her lip, and closed her eyes, thinking about being inside the room with Tom. Suddenly, she felt a pressure surround her, and she opened her eyes to see Tom standing before her with wide eyes and a shocked expression.

"You just apparated!" He said in awe.

"I what?" she said looking around in shock that she was now standing inside the room with him.

"Apparition; it's a form of magical transportation, but most wizards and witches aren't able to do it until their older. You're supposed to have a license."

Hermione grimaced, "Well, it's not as if I meant to do it!" she said louder than she intended to, and they both froze when they heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Hermione threaded her fingers through Tom's and quickly closed her eyes. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest at the thought of them being caught, and in her state of panic, she imagined the familiar bedroom of her childhood home.

There was that pressure again, and with a crack, she and Tom landed in a heap on her bedroom floor in a tangle of limbs.

He sat up, rubbing the back of his head where he had bumped it on the hard wood floor, and looked around in awe. The room was bare, since most of her things had been destroyed by the fire; the evidence of which could still be seen in the form of scorch marks still marring the once beautiful wood.

"Where are we?" he asked in surprise, looking at her as if she were a puzzle that he very much wanted to solve. Not only had she apparated again, but she had taken _him_ _with her_.

"This is my house." She said sadly, taking in the empty bookshelves that were once overflowing with her beloved books, all of them now burned to ash.

There was another loud crack down stairs, and they both stood and looked at each other nervously, exiting the bedroom to find the source.

There, lighting a fire in the hearth with his wand, stood an older gentleman, who was very obviously a wizard, dressed in mis-matched suit.

"Ah, there you are." He said genially as he gestured for them to come down and take a seat on the sofa that was covered in a white sheet.

"Professor, I can explain-" Tom began as he raced down the stairs towards him, standing in front of Hermione protectively.

"No need, Tom, I'm quite aware that it was _Miss Granger_ that brought you here this evening." The Professor said, as he looked pointedly past Tom to Hermione peeking out from behind his back.

"No need to be afraid, Miss Granger, you're not in any trouble, dear girl." The professor said kindly as he pulled a small pouch from of his robes, "Lemon drop?"

Hermione smiled, feeling a warmth in her chest towards the kindly older man, as she stepped out from behind Tom and plucked a small candy from the pouch, popping it in her mouth.

Tom sat on the couch, and Hermione took a seat beside him as they faced the professor.

"How extraordinary. I've not seen someone so young perform that level of magic without proper training in _many years_." He said, his kindly blue eyes twinkling as they studied her.

Hermione wasn't sure how to respond to that, so she remained silent.

"Well, as I've no doubt that Tom has already told you all about Hogwarts, and since I know that you received your Hogwarts letter earlier this year, I'll not spend too much time explaining that, however, since you're here, I may as well tell you that I'll be coming to collect the both of you during the last week of August to retrieve your school supplies."

"To Diagon Alley?" Hermione asked excitedly, looking between Tom and the Professor.

"Yes, Miss Granger, that is generally where one would go to gather the required school items." The professor chuckled, as he continued, "Since the two of you are in quite a _unique_ situation, you'll be attending Hogwarts on a stipend. Tom is already aware of this, of course, but we will need to set up a Gringott's account for you, Miss Granger so that you may purchase your school things." Dumbledore explained.

Hermione nodded. She wasn't sure what Gringott's was, but she figured she could ask Tom about it later.

"As such, I've come to return you to the orphanage for the time being, and caution you against trying anything like that again. Without the proper training, you could very well have been splinched." The professor said giving them both a stern look.

"Splinched, sir?" Hermione asked, having no idea what he was talking about.

The professor cleared his throat, "Yes, my dear girl, it's a rather unpleasant consequence of poorly done apparition."

Hermione nodded, not wanting to find out, since it didn't sound very good.

"What about Mrs. Cole? Won't we get in trouble?" Hermione asked lacing her fingers through Tom's at the reminder of how she had already treated Tom.

The professor waved a hand dismissively, "Not to worry, Miss Granger, she won't remember a thing." The professor said, as he stood and gestured for them to take his arm.

Hermione watched as Tom stood and grasped the professor's forearm, and she took a step closer to do the same. The moment her fingers closed around his arm, the familiar sensation of being squeezed through a tube came over her, and when she opened her eyes, they were standing in the small courtyard behind Wool's.

"Both of you run along, I need have a word with Mrs. Cole." The professor said kindly, and Tom wasted no time grabbing Hermione's hand and pulling her inside and up to his room.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter**.

 **AN: Thank you all SO MUCH for your awesome reviews! I have to admit, I LOVED writing this chapter - I hope you all like it as much as I do! If you're reading this, take a moment and tell me what you think! your reviews totally make my day, which especially now I need all the happy thoughts I can get, as I just lost my grandmother over the weekend**.

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Once they had reached the safety of his bedroom, Hermione threw her arms around tom, burying her face in his chest.

"Are you alright?" she asked him, her voice muffled by his grey tunic.

He hesitantly allowed his arms to drape over her small frame, and he pushed a curl back from her face.

"It's nothing that hasn't happened before." He answered stiffly.

Hermione tilted her face to look up at him, and she felt anger rise in her all over again when she saw the dried blood on the corner of his lip.

"Did _she_ do that to you?" Hermione spat angrily

The tip of Tom's tongue darted out to run over the small cut on his lip and his cheeks reddened in embarrassment.

"It's not as if I couldn't have cursed her if I wanted to. She's just a muggle. She's _weak_." Tom spat stepping away and moving over to sit on the edge of his bed.

She flinched at his tone; there was so much _hatred_ in his voice as he'd said it. She didn't particularly like Mrs. Cole, but the way he seemed to lump her in with everyone else that had no magic as being somehow beneath him, bothered her.

"They're pathetic, Hermione, and one day, we'll show them their place." He said as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Tom, that wasn't what I meant…" she said, and then stopped when the glare he gave her silenced her.

"Either you're with me, or against me, Hermione. You heard Professor Dumbledore, he's never seen so much power in someone so young. We are _better_ , Hermione, you need to accept that."

She felt her heart constrict in her chest at the thought that she had somehow angered him. He was literally all she had left, and the thought of him leaving her was abhorrent. She felt the tears sting her eyes as she knelt on the floor in front of him, slipping her hands into his.

"Tom, you know that's not what I meant…if you ever left me alone, I don't know what I'd do…"she was rambling now, as he lifted her chin to meet his eyes.

"Shhh…I won't ever leave you, because you're _mine_." he said wiping her tears away as they leaked from the corners of her eyes.

She quieted at his soothing touch, comforted in his assurances that he wouldn't leave, as well as a strange fluttering in her stomach at his words; _because you're mine_. What had he meant by that? Her mind thought back to her encounter earlier that afternoon with Billy and Dennis;

 _Riddle's got himself a girlfriend, now, has he?_

Her heart began to beat faster in her chest, and she blushed suddenly. Tom hadn't meant it like that, had he? She kept her gaze locked on his, as she tried to figure out the meaning of his words. He was terribly handsome, even for a boy of twelve going on thirteen; though the thought of a boy being _interested_ in her was such a foreign concept.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" he asked suddenly, breaking the spell she'd been under, and she blushed again more fiercely this time, and looked away.

"Sorry." She said as she stood and wrapped her arms around herself as if she were attempting to ward off a chill. Suddenly, she remembered why she had been so desperate to find him in the first place.

"Tom, I heard Mrs. Cole talking to someone this afternoon. I think she was talking about you…"

 **ooOo0oOoo**

Her eyes snapped open when she felt a hand settle on her stomach and warm breath fanning across the back of her neck.

"Tom?" she whispered in a near squeak

"Of course, were you expecting someone else?" he chuckled quietly as he found a comfortable position behind her on her small cot.

"Won't you get in trouble?" she whispered over her shoulder.

"Not if I don't get caught, now go to sleep." He admonished as he smoothed her hair out of his face and closed his eyes.

With the warm weight of his arm draped over her waist, she drifted back to sleep.

" _Hermione, what more do your father and I have to do to get this to stop?" Her mother scolded, "Do you want us to take you to that hospital again? Is that what you want?"_

 _Hermione was sobbing now as the tears streamed down her face, as she clutched desperately at her mother's skirt, "No mum, please don't send me back there! I'll be good! I swear I will!" she pleaded_

 _Her mother sighed dramatically, "If this doesn't stop, Hermione, you'll leave us little choice." She said coldly as she swept out of her bedroom without a backwards glance._

She woke with a start, and felt Tom's fingers splayed over the flesh of her stomach where her sleep shirt had slightly ridden up. His thumb was tracing small circles over her skin, and his breath was deep and even against the back of her neck. She shifted a bit, trying to get comfortable again when she felt something rigid against her backside. _Maybe Tom fell asleep with something in his pocket_? She thought to herself as she wiggled against him trying to get comfortable again after that awful dream she'd had. She froze when she heard him let out a soft moan, and felt his fingers move over to her hip. She felt his hips rock against her backside, and she lay there still as a statue, unsure of what to do.

"Tom?" she whispered over her shoulder, pretty certain he was still sleep.

He didn't answer, but continued to move his hips against her, his fingers curling into her hip tighter, and his breathing became more shallow, before he suddenly tensed and let out a soft groan. _Was he in pain?_

"Tom?" she said again, this time she turned around to face him.

His eyes blinked open, and he looked at her in confusion, before his eyes darted down to his waist and he quickly got up and left her room without a word.

 _Had she done something to upset him?_

It took her a while to fall back asleep after that, not only from the memory of the awful dream, but from Tom's abrupt departure. She hoped that she hadn't upset him somehow, but she was sure he'd tell her if she had.

 **ooOo0oOoo**

The next morning at breakfast, Tom was avoiding her eyes, and hadn't spoken more than two words to her. At first, she tried to ignore it, prattling on about various topics, to which he barely acknowledged with a nod, until she couldn't take his silent treatment anymore.

"Tom, have I done something to make you angry?" she asked pointedly, setting her fork down in an attempt to get his full attention.

He kept his eyes trained on his plate, and his cheeks suddenly reddened before he quickly grabbed his tray and left her sitting at the table alone.

She heard sniggering from the table behind her, and she turned to see Billy and Dennis smirking in her direction.

"What's the matter broom head? Did Riddle turn you down? That freak probably wouldn't even know what to do with it if he had a map and written instructions." Billy sniggered.

Hermione felt angry tears prick her eyes before she stood and ran from the dining hall, back to the safety of her room. She lay on her bed, her mind racing as she thought back to when she could have possibly angered Tom, and she kept coming up empty handed. She knew boys could be difficult, she'd heard some of the other girls at her previous school complaining about them, but she usually tuned it out, since she really had no interest in boys at the time. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she made her way to the loo and washed her tear-stained face before she headed down to join the rest of the girls for their daily chores.

She had laundry duty today, and thankfully, she had been paired with Kelly. Kelly was a bit older than her at fifteen, but aside from Tom, she had been the only one at Wool's that had been kind to her. The basket of all the dirty clothes had already been brought down, so Kelly began filling the wash basin with hot water and soap flakes so that they could start scrubbing. As she began pulling the dirty clothes from the bin and placing them in the warm water to soak, she picked up a pair of boys boxer shorts and wrinkled her nose.

"Gross. I hate washing the boy's underpants." Kelly said as she tossed them in with the rest.

Hermione hadn't thought about it much, but she wasn't sure why it would be any worse than washing the girl's knickers.

"Why?" Hermione asked curiously.

Kelly bit back a smirk as her gaze flicked over to Hermione, realizing how young she was.

"Because sometimes they have dreams that leaves their pants sticky." She said wrinkling her nose.

Hermione's brows furrowed.

"How come?" she asked in confusion, whatever the reason, it certainly didn't sound pleasant.

Kelly laughed, "When boys dream about sex, they sometimes… _finish_ in their sleep."

Hermione's eyes widened, and she blushed. _Had that been what happened to Tom?_ Now that she thought about it, it made sense.

"Why does it happen?" Hermione asked quickly

Kelly looked at her as if she was daft, "It's part of growing up, I suppose. Boys around that age get boners and think about sex more. It's natural." She said waving her hand dismissively.

Hermione blushed. Had Tom been dreaming about having _sex_? If so, _with whom_? The thought that he could have been dreaming about someone else made her irrationally angry.

"You're still young, I'll bet you haven't even started your monthlies yet." Kelly said off-hand as she scrubbed the sudsy clothes against the metal washboard.

Hermione shook her head in the negative, and blushed once again.

"Don't worry, I'm sure it'll happen soon. You're what, 11?" she asked Hermione

Hermione nodded, "I'll be twelve in a few months."

"Well, it's not all it's cracked up to be, I can tell you. The cramps are awful. No one ever talks about that, only how wonderful it is to finally be a woman." Kelly scoffed.

Hermione bit back a small smile. Truthfully, her mother had never talked to her about her monthlies at all, but she wasn't completely ignorant, she had read a bit about it in books.

They finished the rest of the laundry in a companionable silence, neither feeling the need to talk as they folded the clean dry clothes and carried the large baskets upstairs to be delivered to their recipients.

After taking lunch alone again, she strolled the yard, kicking pebbles with her shoe when she heard someone trying to get her attention from outside the ivy covered fence.

"Psst…Hermione!"

She peered through the fence, and her eyes widened when she saw it was Tom.

"Tom! What are you doing out there? You could get in trouble!" she hissed.

"Come on, I want to show you something." He whispered, and beckoned her to follow him to where there was a hole under the fence just big enough for her to slip through.

She glared at him but shimmied under the fence anyway against her better judgement, just relieved that whatever awkwardness had befallen them earlier, seemed to be gone.

As soon as she was on the other side of the fence, he grabbed her hand, threading his fingers through hers, and pulled her along behind him at a run.

"Where are we going?" she asked breathlessly as she sprinted, doing her best to keep up with his much longer strides.

"Just trust me." He called back over his shoulder, giving her a mischievous smile that made her heart stutter a little bit.

He led her down an alley, until they reached a smooth metal door, and she came to a stop behind him as he squatted down and pried the door open with a small stick. It was dark inside, but he ushered her in quickly, and pulled her into a seat. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she could see that they were inside a mostly empty movie theatre, and he leaned over and whispered in her ear'

"The Hound of the Baskervilles. Have you ever read Sherlock Holmes?"

Hermione shook her head, "Is it scary?" she asked already able to tell that it most likely would be.

"Why, are you _afraid?_ " he asked close to her ear with a dark chuckle.

Her chin jutted out in defiance, at his implication that she was a wimp, and she answered quickly, "No, of course not."

Halfway through the movie, Hermione was leaning over her seat, burying her face in Tom's shoulder as he bit back a smirk. When the movie finally came to an end, he pulled her back through the same door they entered through, and they rushed back toward Wool's. He pulled her along the fence, and signaled for Hermione to go through first, and just as he climbed through behind her, he heard someone sniggering.

"Well, what do we have here? Two freaks out for a romantic stroll?"

Tom scowled when he saw that it was Billy Stubbs.

"What's the matter, Riddle? None of the other girls will put out for you? Is that why you're sneaking off with Broom head?" Billy asked snidely

"Get out of my way, Stubbs, I'm not going to ask you again." Tom spat.

Billy, who was the same height as Tom though much more substantial in size, stepped over to Tom until they were almost nose to nose.

"Why don't you _make me_ , Riddle?" he challenged.

Tom grit his teeth. He knew he couldn't beat Billy Stubbs in a physical fight, so he did the only thing he could think of; he hissed something in Parseltongue.

"What _the fuck_?" Billy laughed at Tom's protracted hissing, though Hermione knew better; she knew what that sound meant, and she backed away silently.

Within moments, dozens of large, shiny dark colored snakes slithered in from behind the fence, hissing and baring the elongated fangs set within their inky black mouths. Hermione didn't know much about snakes, but judging by their appearance, they looked venomous.

Billy backed away quickly, his eyes widened in alarm.

"What the fuck are you playing at, Riddle?"

Tom smirked, enjoying the look of fear on the boy's face.

"Black Mambas. Though usually not aggressive, their venom is highly toxic; Did you know that with just a single bite, they can kill a human in 45 minutes? I wonder what would happen if someone were to sustain _multiple_ bites?" Tom asked with a hint of curiosity in his tone, but there was no mistaking the threat.

"I swear, I won't tell anyone, just please tell them to back off." Billy said holding his hands out in front of him, slowly backing away from the agitated vipers.

"Oh, I know you won't. But, Just to be certain we understand each other…" Tom trailed off, and quickly switched back to Parseltongue, giving a low hiss that sounded like a command.

One of the snakes lunged forward swiftly, plunging it's fangs into Billy's ankle as a high pitched scream tore from his throat. The snake extricated itself, and with a wave of Tom's hand, the snakes slithered off back into the woods.

Billy was on the ground gritting his teeth in extreme pain, clutching his throbbing ankle with both hands, as a sob escaped his throat.

"Please…" he whimpered, reaching out to grasp at Hermione's leg as Tom strode away, leaving the boy writhing on the ground in agony. She looked down at him sympathetically, and grimaced.

"Tom!" she called out, and he stopped, looking back at her over his shoulder giving her a stony look.

"We need to get him some help! He could die!" she said in disbelief. She disliked Billy as much as the next person, but she didn't wish him physical harm.

"He should have thought of that before he insulted you." Tom spat, his lips forming a firm line.

Hermione scoffed, well, if he wasn't going to do anything about this, she would. She was not going to sit idly by while Billy Stubbs lay on the ground outside dying.

She removed Billy's white knuckle grip from her ankle with a whispered, "I'm getting help" before she strode angrily past Tom into the building.

The ambulance arrived a short while later, and she heard Mrs. Cole talking quietly with the paramedics as they loaded Billy onto the stretcher;

"So strange that a venomous snake should find its way onto the grounds, poor child."

Hermione had done her best to describe the snake to the paramedics, knowing that if they could determine the species, they would have more success with the anti-venin. She felt slightly guilty that she didn't come right out and say it had been a Black Mamba, because she knew if she had, Mrs. Cole would have questioned how she knew so much about it. She did however give the general description of the snake, and was sure to tell them that it looked like the inside of its mouth was black. As she turned around, the look Tom was giving her was one of betrayal, but she glared back at him defiantly. She needed him to understand that using their power against others in that way was _not okay_.

He followed her inside, and slipped into her room behind her, shoving her so that she landed sprawled out on her bed. He stood, with his hands clenched into fists at his sides, glaring down at her.

"Tom, you-" she began but he immediately cut her off

"Shut up." He snapped, and she blinked up at him in surprise. She knew he was angry, but he had never spoken to her that way, and she felt suddenly uneasy.

"What happened out there, I did that for you. _For us_. That kid is scum, Hermione, and he deserved everything he got. Is that how you repay me? By _helping_ him?" he asked incredulously.

Her mouth gaped open. _Did he really expect her to just let him die?_ She wanted to yell, to throw something at him for being so bloody infuriating, but she knew that in his highly agitated state, that she needed to take a lesser approach.

"Tom, I appreciate you trying to protect me, really I do, but I didn't wish for him to be hurt." She said calmly, returning his gaze.

Tom scoffed, "And do you think he would have wished the same for you? I've seen what's in his head, Hermione, I've seen the disgusting thoughts he's had about you." Tom sneered.

Hermione's eyes widened at that.

"What do you mean you've _seen_ his thoughts, Tom?" she asked, her brows furrowing in confusion

Tom began to pace the room now, his fingers flexing as he moved, tapping against his outer thigh as was his nervous habit.

"He's thought about doing things to you. Thing's that…" he trailed off.

"Things that _what_ , Tom?" she prompted.

His cheeks were red.

"He was wondering if you'd bled yet, and what it would feel like to…Don't make me say it, Hermione." Tom said through clenched teeth as he stared at the floor, not able to meet her eyes.

Hermione gasped and her hand flew to her mouth in understanding.

"As I said, he deserved what he got." Tom said looking back up at her with an unreadable expression.

When she didn't say anything, and instead wrapped her arms around herself, the anger seemed to leave him, and he moved to sit beside her on the bed.

"You know I'll never let anyone hurt you, don't you Hermione?" he said softly, pulling her into his side.

She licked her lips nervously, and recalled Tom's words to her the day before;

 _Because you're mine_ , he'd said.

She tilted her face to look up at him, her caramel eyes locking with his green ones

"Because I'm yours?" she whispered quietly, her eyes searching his

"Because you're mine." He repeated, tucking her head beneath his chin and she pressed her face against his chest, and she fell asleep listening to the steady rhythm of his heart.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter!**

 **AN: Thank you all again so much for the amazing reviews! I am over the moon that you guys are loving this story as much as I love writing it xo**

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The next several weeks passed in a blur of routine; wake up, have breakfast with Tom, do her daily chores, have lunch with Tom again, and then head outside for the afternoon. Sometimes she and Tom would sit in the back garden and talk quietly, since most of the kids preferred to play in the sunny spots out front, or they would sneak off periodically to explore London. Evenings were usually spent reading books about magic together in her room. Though Tom usually stayed with her until she fell asleep, he no longer spent the night in her bed. She still blushed when she thought about what had really happened that night, though he never mentioned it, and she never brought it up.

It was one morning in late July, that she awoke with a terrible pain in her stomach, and a bit of blood in her knickers. Kelly had certainly been right about the cramps, they were awful. She managed to get herself to the loo to clean herself up and then immediately returned back to her bed and curled into a ball with her arms wrapped around her midsection.

It didn't take Tom long to realize that something was wrong when Hermione had not shown up at breakfast. He made his way to her room, and slipped inside, frowning when he found her curled up on her bed, her face pinched tightly in a grimace of pain.

"What's the matter?" he asked in concern as he moved to sit beside her on the edge of her bed, brushing her hair back from her face.

"None of your bloody business!" she snapped. He was the last person she wanted to discuss her monthlies with.

His eyes widened at her short temper, and he laid his hand on her back, able to see that it was most likely because she was in pain.

"Do you want me to get Mrs. Cole, then?" he asked lifting one eyebrow in question. Truthfully, he didn't want that awful woman anywhere near Hermione, but if she were in need of medical attention, he wasn't going to prevent it.

"No, just…leave me be for five days or so." She snapped gritting her teeth against the cramps in her abdomen. How women put up with this every month, she'd never know.

Tom wrinkled his nose in distaste when he realized what was wrong with her.

"I'll be right back." He said brusquely and he got up and walked out of her room without a word.

Ten minutes later, he returned with a hot water bottle, some asprin, and a book.

"Move over." He commanded, and she glared at him before she scooted over to the side of the bed so he could stretch out next to her. He handed her the asprin, and then leaned over her to place the hot water bottle on her stomach, and then sat back and proceeded to read aloud to her. His voice had deepened over the summer, and the tenor of it as he spoke helped her body to relax. When her breathing became even, he set the book down beside her bed and left her alone to sleep. It was later that afternoon when she finally managed to pull herself out of bed for a shower that she noticed an older man leaving Tom's room with Mrs. Cole.

Rather than sneak in to to ask Tom what that was all about, she followed Mrs. Cole and the strange man downstairs and pressed herself against the wall outside of her office as they moved in there to talk.

" _He's very intelligent, that much is clear, though he lacks a certain warmth for a boy his age; there have been incidents, you say?" she heard the man saying._

" _Yes, well, nothing that has been directly connected to him, you understand, but I'm sure he's responsible." She said in clipped tones._

" _What sort of incidents?" The man asked._

" _A few years ago, I witnessed one of the other children bullying him. The next day, that very child had a nasty fall down the stairs. Tom was no where near him at the time, but…well, he looked…pleased."_

" _And what else?" the man asked again_

" _Just last month, he had an altercation with one of the older boys out in the yard, and the poor boy was bitten by a viper just after. Why, I've never even seen snakes like that around here, but I'm sure that boy had something to do with it. The girl he spends so much time with…Miss Granger, she saw it happen, I'm sure she knows something."_

Hermione covered her mouth with her hand. She recalled the conversation she'd overheard when she'd first come to the orphanage; it seemed that this man was from a hospital, and he was here to evaluate Tom. Hermione shivered at the memories that threated to spill over about her own time spent in one of those hospitals; she knew, even then, there hadn't been anything wrong with her. She was _magic_ , not mental.

She closed her eyes, and in a hushed whisper, began repeating over and over;

"There's nothing wrong with Tom, I'll be on my way. There's nothing wrong with Tom, I'll be on my way. There's nothing wrong with Tom, I'll be on my way. There's nothing wrong with Tom, I'll be on my way."

" _Mrs. Cole, while I understand your concern, I can find no evidence of mental instability in the boy. I've taken up far too much of your time already, so I'll be on my way. Good day."_ The doctor said as he settled his hat back on his head and strode out of her office, leaving Mrs. Cole gaping after him.

Hermione was already at the top of the stairs, and ran straight into Tom's room. He was staring out the window, watching the doctor climb into the waiting car.

"Tom? You won't believe what I just did!" she said and he spun around to face her with a questioning look.

"That man…he was a doctor, wasn't he? I saw him with Mrs. Cole coming from your room, so I followed them. They were talking about you. I just kept imagining him saying that he could find nothing wrong with you, and that he'd be on his way, and it worked! Just like that!" Hermione said with a wide smile on her face.

"And what about you? Do _you_ think there's something wrong with me?" he asked her with an unreadable look on his face.

She frowned, "Of course not, Tom. You don't belong there."

"Mrs. Cole thinks I do." He said quickly moving to sit on the edge of his bed.

"Since when do you care about what Mrs. Cole thinks?" Hermione snorted, "We're magic, Tom, not mental. We don't belong there." Hermione said evenly.

"We? The doctor wasn't here to see _you_ , Hermione." Tom spat in annoyance.

She heard the accusation in his tone and crossed her arms over her chest defensively, "Maybe not today, but I've had those visits before too, Tom. I've _been_ to those hospitals." She admitted quietly.

He looked up at her sharply, "Your _parents_ put you there?" he asked in surprise and she nodded.

"I'm glad they're dead." He spat, and she flinched at the anger in his voice.

"That's a terrible thing to say, Tom" she whispered, tears pricking the corner of her eyes as she looked away from him.

"Parents are supposed to protect their children, aren't they? They didn't deserve you, Hermione." Tom said as he moved over to her and reached a hand out to wipe the tears that had escaped down her cheeks. He wrapped his arms around her and held her, and she let him.

 **ooOo0oOoo**

Before long, it was mid-August, and Hermione awoke with lightness in her chest; today was the day that they were taking their annual outing to the beach. It was on this day, two summers ago, she had met Tom Riddle hovering over a small tide pool. She hopped out of bed, putting on her swimsuit beneath her grey shift, and headed downstairs for breakfast. Tom was already in his usual seat when she arrived, and he gave her a small smile. She took her tray, having skipped right past the eggs, and picked up a small bowl of oatmeal.

"You seem in a pleasant mood this morning." She observed as she took a bite of her oatmeal.

"I'm happy for any chance to get away from this place." He said giving her a small smile.

Hermione nodded, she heartily agreed with that sentiment, and quickly finished her oatmeal. When Breakfast was finished, they climbed into the bus, finding a seat towards the back where they could sit together.

As Hermione followed Tom towards the back, she heard one of the older girls, Amy Benson snickering at her as she passed by. She looked down self-consciously, and wondered what it was that she was laughing at.

"Hey Dennis, surfing might not be out of the question after all; even if we don't have a board, we could always use broom head…she's certainly _flat_ enough." Amy said just loudly enough for Hermione to hear, and she gritted her teeth at the girl's cruel words. She slipped into the seat beside Tom, and she knew he had also heard by the way he was glaring at the back of Amy's head.

"Don't listen to them." He said quietly, entwining his fingers with hers.

She felt herself blushing as his hand tightened around hers. Even though he had held her hand like that many times before, she couldn't help the way it made her stomach flutter. She knew that he cared about her in his own way, but she was questioning lately whether or not his interest in her was purely platonic, like that of a sibling, or something more. As she glanced up at him shyly from beneath her lashes, there was a small part of her that hoped it was the latter.

Tom had begun to notice a change in her over the last few weeks as well; she seemed moodier, and less talkative, and he caught her looking at him and blushing more often than usual.

Hermione grimaced as she glanced down at her mostly flat chest and sighed.

"I may as well be a _boy_." She said quietly in irritation.

Tom chuckled at her, "Well, you should be thankful. I bet Amy will go straight to the bottom with a chest like that."

Hermione tried to bite back a smirk, until the thought entered her mind, ' _Why had Tom been looking at her chest?_ '

"Oh? And you would know, _wouldn't you_?" she snapped at him suddenly, folding her arms over her chest defensively.

He looked over at her in confusion, and decided not to indulge her. Trying to keep up with her mood swings was proving to be exhausting. Instead, he changed the subject.

"Do you want to go to the cave?" he asked

Her irritation with Tom dissipated nearly instantly, and she smiled up at him brightly, "That sounds like fun."

Once they reached the beach and listed to Mrs. Cole's usual lecture about reporting straight back at the sound of her whistle, the children all took off in groups to enjoy the day.

She felt his hand slip into hers as he tugged her towards a secluded spot by the rocks where they could leave their belongings while they swam. She set her towel down and kicked off her shoes as she pulled her dress over her head, leaving her clad in only the dark blue swim suit her mother had bought for what should have been their summer holiday in Greece. As she turned to face Tom, she noticed him staring, and she began to fidget under his intense gaze.

"What is it?" she asked looking down at herself to see if anything was amiss.

"Nothing…I just…it's nothing." He said quickly, a faint pink tinge rising to his cheeks and nodded for her to follow him.

Part of her wanted to know what it was he had been thinking, but another part was afraid he was remembering what Amy had said on the bus, and that maybe he agreed with her. _Hadn't he all but admitted to noticing Amy's breasts?_

She shook herself from her thoughts as she heard a splash and saw that Tom was already in the water, swimming towards the cave. She followed along quickly, gasping as the cold water licked at her thighs, and determinedly plunged herself under the water and began to swim after him.

When she reached the mouth of the cave, he was already there, holding out his hand, waiting to pull her up.

"At least some things never change, I'm still faster than you." He chuckled as he plopped down on the large flat rock, much like he had the last time they had been there together.

"That's because you _cheated_." She said petulantly, as she moved to sit beside him.

"I didn't cheat, I just took advantage of the fact that you're slow." He said teasingly as she elbowed him in the side.

"I'm not _slow_ , Tom Riddle. One day, I'll beat you. You'll see." She said confidently as he snorted in amusement.

"What will it be like? When we're at Hogwarts I mean?" she asked suddenly, and he looked at her in confusion.

"What do you mean?" he asked

"What if I'm not in Slytherin? What if I'm sorted into a different house?" she asked, afraid of what his answer would be.

Tom scoffed, "Don't be daft, of course you'll be in Slytherin."

Hermione sat up and looked at him, "But what if I'm not? I read in that book that there are rivalries between the houses…"

"Hermione, I think you're worrying over nothing." He said as he brushed off her concerns and rested his arm over his eyes.

"What if I end up in Gryffindor? Will things… _change_? Slytherins and Gryffindors don't exactly get along from what I've read…what about your friends? What would they think of you hanging out with a Gryffindor?" Hermione asked him, worrying at her lower lip with her teeth. The thought of Tom drifting apart from her all because of some stupid house rivalry made her chest ache. She had to know that things would stay the same; that _they_ would be the same.

He leaned up on his elbows then and looked at her seriously, "Nothing will change."

"Do you swear it?" she asked holding up her hand looking at the jagged scar on her palm that looked to be in the shape of a lightning bolt.

"I swear it. Nothing will come between us." He said as he held up his hand, his palm connecting with hers as his fingers clutched hers tightly.

Suddenly, an unwelcome voice made them jump apart quickly.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Dennis laughed cruelly as Amy stood behind him with a nasty smirk on her face.

"Not sure why he bother's, she hasn't even got any breasts." Amy snickered.

Just as Hermione was about to open her mouth and respond, Tom stepped in front of her and took a step towards Dennis and Amy. Dennis took a step back, keeping a wary eye on Tom, clearly more intimidated by him than he let on after the incident with Billy. Amy however, stood her ground, glaring at Hermione.

"If you want to know what a _real woman_ looks like, Riddle, _I_ could show you." She said as she curled her hand around Tom's bicep.

As soon as her hand touched Tom's skin, her face contorted in pain as angry red blisters began to form and she pulled her hand away from him in shock. Tom watched in surprise as Amy cradled her burned hand to her chest, and turned to look over his shoulder at where Hermione stood. She had a look on anger on her face, and she was staring directly at Amy's hand.

Dennis led a whimpering Amy out of the cave, as he shouted over his shoulder, "Mrs. Cole will hear about this!"

Hermione let out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding when she felt Tom's hands grasp her arms.

"How did you do that?" He demanded, his eyes glittering with excitement.

Hermione flinched at his tone, disgusted with herself that she had actually _injured_ someone.

"I don't know, I didn't mean to do it!" she snapped at him, trying to pull away.

"But you did. You _burned_ her, Hermione." Tom said as the corner of his lips curved up into an evil smile.

"I told you, I didn't mean to. I just…didn't like her touching you like that, is all." She admitted with a blush.

She felt his fingers brush the hair back from her face as he tilted her chin to look up at him, "Why?" he asked softly, as if he genuinely didn't know.

Hermione blushed a deeper shade of red and pulled her chin out of his grasp, "Because, ok? I just don't like her." She shouted, not wanting to admit that she had been jealous.

Tom thankfully nodded, and let the matter drop, and instead tugged her back towards the mouth of the cave.

"Let's swim a bit more before we have to go back."


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, just having fun.**

 **AN: You guys, I am so blown away by your kind words...I am so in love with this story as I'm writing it, it's very different from anything I've ever written. Anyways, in this chapter, we will get to see Hermione's first glimpse of the magical world, as well as learn some really interesting information (I'm not telling!) I can't wait to hear your speculation on what you think it means...Leave me a review!**

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The day had finally arrived that they would go to Diagon Alley for their school supplies, and Hermione practically skipped down the steps as she followed Professor Dumbledore and Tom out of the front door of the orphanage; today was the day she would get her first glimpse of the wizarding world.

They passed through a strange sort of pub called The Leaky Cauldron, where their professor nodded to an odd bald man behind the bar before walking straight out the back door and into an ally that was seemingly a dead end.

"What are we-" she began to ask as Tom raised his hand to silence her, and gestured for her to watch. Her eyes widened in shock when their professor tapped a few of the bricks with his wand, and suddenly, they began to reassemble themselves to form an archway. There were people walking about in strange clothing, and shops that had brooms in the window for something called 'Quidditch', and it was all so strange and wonderful at the same time. She kept her hand firmly in Tom's for fear that she would be left behind if she got too distracted.

"I suppose a stop at Gringotts is in order, to set up Miss Granger's account, and also to make a withdrawal for you, Tom." The professor said, motioning them to follow him inside.

Hermione gasped and her hand flew to her mouth when saw the Goblins; Wizards and witches for the most part looked like anyone else, but she hadn't been prepared for _Goblins_.

"What are they?" she whispered to Tom, hoping they couldn't hear her with their overly large ears.

"Goblins." Tom answered chuckling in amusement.

The professor left them waiting in the lobby as he went behind closed doors with one of the older looking goblins, saying something about "Hogwarts business" indicating that they should wait for him there.

It was twenty minutes later when he finally emerged, with a strange look on his face.

"Let us be off." He said quickly as he ushered them outside.

Tom noticed the change in their professor just as Hermione did and asked, "Is something wrong, professor?"

"Of course not, Tom, it's nothing you need concern yourself with." He answered and quickly changed the subject, "If I'm not mistaken, I do believe Miss Granger is in need of a wand."

Hermione practically jumped for joy and pulled Tom into Ollivander's with her excitedly, forgetting all about their professor's abrupt change of mood.

"How will I know it's the right one?" she whispered nervously to Tom as she tightened her grip on his hand.

"Trust me, you'll know." He answered with a small knowing smile.

"Ah…in need of a wand, I see. You must be a first year, I don't recognize you, my dear." The old man said kindly as he eyed her speculatively.

"I'm Hermione Granger." She said giving him a small smile in return.

"Well, let's start with this one then. It's Mahogany, 8 ¾ inches, with a Unicorn hair." The old man, Mr. Ollivander, said as he handed her a polished dark wand.

Just as Tom had said, she could tell almost immediately that it didn't feel right in her hand.

"I don't think this one is right." She said as she tried to hand it back to him.

"Nonsense! You haven't tried it yet, young lady! Well, give it a wave!" he urged.

Against her better judgement, she flicked the wand towards the window and it shattered instantly.

"Nope! Definitely not!" Mr. Ollivander exclaimed, indicating for her to set it down

Hermione's eyes were wide with shock and she set the wand back as carefully as she could into the elongated box.

Mr. Ollivander stood staring at her tapping his chin thoughtfully when he held up a finger as if he'd had just the thing, and climbed quickly up the ladder to retrieve another box.

"Give this one a try. Vine wood, 10 ¾ inches, with Dragon Heartstring." He said as he handed her the lighter looking wand

She marveled at the intricate carving of the wood, but still felt that it was not quite right.

"I don't think this is the one either" she warned, though she flicked it anyway, and caused a shelf to collapse.

Tom chuckled behind his hand but quickly appeared to look contrite when Hermione shot him a glare.

After what seemed like an hour of trying several different wands, with the damage of Mr. Ollivander's shop reaching an almost disastrous level, Professor Dumbledore leaned closer to the old man and whispered something in his ear that caused his eyes to widen.

He leaned back, looking from the professor to Hermione in wonder, "You don't say…" he muttered in disbelief.

Before she could ask what that was all about, Mr. Ollivander disappeared between the messy stacks only to return a moment later with an ornately carved silver box covered in a healthy layer of dust.

"This wand has been in my care for some time, Miss Granger. I'd be delighted to see it finally return to its rightful owner." He said cryptically as he opened the box and handed her a surprisingly plain looking wand, "Hawthorne, 12 inches, with a mermaid hair."

She looked at Tom who was watching her closely, and he nodded for her to try it. She knew that whatever their professor had said to the man had to do with her, and whatever it was made Mr. Ollivander think that she could be the owner of this wand.

She felt the wood warm instantly in her hand, unlike the others she had tried, and just as Tom had said, she knew this was the one. She waved the wand over her head, and it was as if time had stopped; the scattered boxes of wands rose into the air, the shelves righted themselves, the broken shards of glass that littered the floor put themselves back together as if they were puzzle pieces restoring the shop's broken window.

She looked around in wonder; the shop was completely restored as if none of the damage had ever been inflicted.

"Extraordinary." Mr. Ollivander breathed as he looked to Hermione in wonder.

She was surprised to hear Tom ask from beside her, "Mr. Ollivander, you said you'd like to see it returned to its rightful owner; who owned that wand?"

The old man shared a look with Professor Dumbledore who stepped forward with a kind smile, "I believe, Tom, that that is a story for another day. We are on something of a schedule, I'm afraid."

Hermione was about to argue when he swept out of the shop with a nod towards Mr. Ollivander, leaving Tom and Hermione no choice but to follow along.

Before long, they had procured all of their necessary school supplies, and Hermione had been fitted for her school robes and uniform when it was time to head back.

The walk back to Wool's was quiet, as Hermione was still marveling over all that she had seen. Her brows furrowed when she looked over at Tom and caught him scowling at Professor Dumbledore's back. She decided to ask him about it later, most likely he was just disappointed that the Professor had told him in no uncertain terms that there wasn't enough money in is stipend to warrant buying a familiar. Hermione herself was a bit annoyed at that, since according to Tom most first years had them, however she was happy to be going to Hogwarts at all, and now she had her very own wand.

When they reached the gates of Wool's, the Professor turned to them and handed them their train tickets. They would be leaving for Hogwarts the following Sunday, and in Hermione's opinion, it couldn't come fast enough. The professor left them with assurances that all of their things would be delivered to the school, and with a nod, he walked away, quickly disappearing into the crowded London street.

Hermione turned to Tom, and she could see that he was still scowling as he pulled her inside. Once they reached her room, he stepped inside behind her and shut her door quickly.

"What do you think he meant?" Tom asked in annoyance.

"Who? What do you mean?" she asked in confusion.

"Mr. Ollivander, about your wand. I want to know what he meant. Who it belonged to. I'm sure even _you_ can tell that that's no ordinary wand." Tom said as his jaw clenched and he began to pace, tapping his fingers on his thigh.

Hermione chuckled, "Tom, I can't imagine _any_ magic wand being called ordinary."

He shot her a withering look, "You know what I meant!" he snapped and resumed his pacing.

"Well, how should I know? I only just learned about magic from you!" she said in irritation.

"There has to be some explanation. Did you see his face? Dumbledore knows _something_ , he just doesn't want to say what it is." He said angrily.

"Tom, whatever it is, I'm sure we'll find out. Why would he deliberately keep something like that from me? He did say we were on a tight schedule."

Tom scoffed and rolled his eyes at her naivety, "Hermione, I'm telling you, there's something important about that wand, and I'm going to find out what it is." He said with an air of finality before he stormed from her room, slamming the door.

She sighed and dropped down onto her bed, and pulled the ornately carved box from her shopping bag to properly examine it. It was silver with gold filigree, lined with purple velvet. The wand itself was a smooth light colored wood with darker striations running through it, but it was plain; there were no intricate carvings as she had seen on some of the other wands she tried, it literally just looked like a smooth bit of wood.

She wondered why Tom had seemed so upset about not knowing the history of her wand, when it was so plain. His wand was much more intricate than hers; almost bone-white with a handle carved to look like a claw. When she thought of what a proper magic wand should look like, she definitely would have chosen Tom's over hers; hers looked like a _stick_.

Appearances aside, Hermione knew instantly that however plain, that that wand was _hers_. When it touched her skin, she could feel a subtle vibration, almost as if her very soul was humming in response.

Not wanting anyone to catch her with it, she placed her wand back inside its ornate box, and hid it in her armoire's secret compartment along with her dresses.

 **oOo0oOo**

The week passed by in a blur of lumpy oatmeal, chores, and time spent reading and re-reading _Hogwarts: A History_. The morning they were to leave, Tom helped her pack her things in her trunk, and when they reached the entry hall, Mrs. Cole handed Hermione a letter, addressed to her. She recognized the name, only from having heard her parents mention it in passing, and tucked it into her coat.

"That arrived for you this morning. The car is already waiting out front to bring you to the station." said Mrs. Cole sharply before striding away without a backwards glance.

"Good riddance." She heard Tom mutter under his breath as he grabbed both of their trunks and headed for the door.

Once they were in the car and on their way to the station, Tom turned to her and nodded towards her pocket, "So who's the letter from, then?"

Hermione had almost forgotten about it in her excitement to finally be leaving the orphanage behind, at least for the next several months, "Oh, it's from my parents' solicitor."

"Well aren't you going to open it?" he asked curiously.

She sighed at his impatience, and plucked the envelope from her pocket, breaking the seal and unfolding the papers within, her eyes moving back and forth quickly as they scanned the contents.

When Hermione simply folded the paper back up with an unreadable expression, and placed it back in her coat pocket, he asked her, "So what did it say?"

Hermione wiped a single tear that had escaped down her cheek, and sniffed before she leveled her gaze at him, "I get everything; on my eighteenth birthday."

Tom furrowed his brows in confusion, "Why are you crying then? That's good, isn't it?"

"My parents are _dead_ , Tom." She said incredulously.

"Yes, they are. They also put you in a _mental hospital_ , Hermione. I don't understand why you are upset." He said in irritation.

"Because they were my _parents_! They weren't perfect, but they were all I had!" She snapped

His eyes flashed with hurt, and his nostrils flared, "Do I mean _nothing_ to you then _?_ " he spat.

"Of course not, Tom, that's different." She said in frustration.

"Not to me. You're all I have, Hermione. You're all I've _ever_ had." He said as he turned away from her gazing silently out the window.

She sighed deeply, feeling a pang of guilt as she laced her hand through his.

"And I'm _yours_ , Tom, remember?" she said softly as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

* * *

 **AN: Did anyone else pick up on Hermione's actual vine wood wand as being one of the wands she tried at Ollivanders? ;)**


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter!

AN: So many questions about Hermione's wand! I love it! Real quick, I'll say this: Yes, it is special and belonged to someone important, and no I'm not saying who just yet. Second, someone asked in their review why in a lot of fanfics the "special" wands seem to have exotic cores, rather than the ones mentioned in the books such as dragon heartstring, or unicorn hairs...I can't speak for all fanfic writers, but I will say that the properties I gave to Hermione's wand in *this* fic were done so for a reason, and it may (or may not) give you a clue to who one of her ancestors was...the original one, anyway. Aside from that, I want to thank you all so much for your amazing reviews, I'm so happy that you all like it! Also - I may at some point do a time jump, but not yet...I think the real meat of the story is in their growing up together, so I don't want to skip forward too quickly...it adds to the intensity of their relationship I think! without further ado, here's chapter 6! let me know what you think! xo

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When they reached King's Cross station, Tom helped Hermione load her trunk onto the trolley along with his.

"The ticket says platform nine and three quarters. Perhaps they made a mistake?" she asked looking at Tom questioningly.

"It's not a mistake, there's a separate platform for the Hogwarts Express that is hidden from the muggles." Tom explained as he pushed their trolley towards a brick wall between platforms nine and ten.

"Just run straight at the wall, and wait for me on the other side." He instructed, and she looked at him as if he'd sprouted a second head.

He chuckled at her skeptical look and reassured her that she'd pass right through.

"Might want to do it at a bit of a run if you're scared."

Hermione scowled at his insinuation that she was afraid, and turned on her heel, striding confidently through the brick wall. To her immense relief, he hadn't been lying, and she passed through unscathed.

A moment later, Tom passed through with their trolley, and she followed him to platform 9 ¾. She stepped onto the train behind Tom, lugging her trunk behind her as she followed him to an empty compartment. Once their trunks were stowed for the journey, she took her seat across from him, practically bouncing in her seat.

"I can't believe we're on our way to Hogwarts!" She said in excitement as she watched other witches and wizards boarding the train.

"When we get to Hogwarts, you'll have to go with the first years; they take the boats across the lake." he told her.

"What about you? Aren't you coming with me?" she asked nervously, not wanting to be separated from him so soon after they arrive.

"No, older students take the carriages. The boats are just for the first years. Once you get to the castle, you'll be lined up outside of the great hall, where you'll be brought in for your sorting. I'll already be inside at the Slytherin table."

At the mention of her impending sorting, nervousness settled in her stomach; _What if she didn't end up in Slytherin?_ Tom had promised that nothing would change between them, but she couldn't help worry that it would.

He could see the worry creasing her brow, and smirked, "I told you, you'll be in Slytherin, don't worry."

She nodded to placate him, but she didn't feel quite as confident about her sorting as he did.

The train ride to Hogwarts was much longer than she had expected, and she dozed off for the majority of it. It was almost two hours later when Tom shook her shoulder to wake her, holding a pentagon shaped box in front of her face.

"What's this?" she asked taking the small box from his hand.

"It's a chocolate frog. I bought it for you from the Trolley." He answered, and she noticed that there was a pink tinge to his cheeks. She knew he didn't have much money, likely he only had a very small amount left over from their shopping trip to Diagon Alley, but he chose to buy something for _her_. The thought warmed her, and she took the box from him gratefully.

"Be careful when you open it, they tend to jump." He warned as she began to open the box.

Just as Tom said, the frog sprang from the box, and she gasped in surprise, darting her hand out in an attempt to grab it. In the end, it was Tom who caught it, and handed the mostly docile frog back to her.

"You don't expect me to _eat_ this do you? Its breathing!" she said incredulously.

Tom laughed, "It's not really breathing, Hermione, it's just a spell. Its chocolate." He said as he took it from her hand and bit its head off.

She gaped at him, but could see that it was just a frog shaped chocolate when he handed the rest back to her.

"See? Just chocolate." He said with a wink.

She nibbled on the rest of it while examining the box.

"There's a card in here too. Who's that?" she asked holding the card out for him to see.

"Hermione, you don't know who _Merlin_ is? Even _muggles_ know about Merlin." Tom said in surprise.

"Well, my mum didn't let me read those sorts of books." She said quietly.

At the mention of her parents, Tom gritted his teeth, but decided not to comment. Instead, he told her what he knew of Merlin.

"Merlin was the greatest wizard that ever lived. Legend has it that a long time ago, he fell in love with a woman; a witch, by the name of Nimue…Honestly, you've never read about King Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable?"

Hermione shook her head and shrugged and he rolled his eyes.

"Well, I'm not going to tell you, you should read it for yourself. I'm sure there are books about Merlin in the Hogwarts Library."

At the mention of a library, a smile broke out on Hermione's face and she leaned back in her seat dreamily, "There's a library?"

Tom chuckled, "Of course there's a library, it is a _school_ , Hermione."

 **oOo0oOo**

It was about an hour later that the Hogwarts Express pulled to a stop, and Hermione looked out the window to see the castle looming over the hill, its lights glittering off of the Black lake.

"That's Hogwarts?!" she asked in amazement, and Tom leaned down beside her to glimpse the castle through the window.

"Yeah, I told you it was something." He answered, his voice filled with the same tone of wonder that hers held.

Already changed into their uniforms, they stepped off the train, and Hermione was guided along to the boats with the other first years, as Tom waved and shouted that he would see her inside. The boat ride across the lake, took her breath away. Nothing Tom had told her about Hogwarts could have prepared her for this; the castle sprawled the grounds, and as they drew closer, she could see how massive and beautiful it truly was.

It was Professor Dumbledore who met them at the top of the stairs, and she felt a bit of relief to see a familiar face. She could tell that some of the first years already knew each other, and she couldn't help but feel alone.

"Welcome to Hogwarts first years! Your houses will be chosen through a long standing tradition of being sorted by the sorting hat. There are four noble houses in which you will be sorted; Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw. You will sit on the stool when your name is called, and place the hat on your head, so that the hat can sort you properly. Once you have been sorted, you will go join your house tables, and the feast will then begin following a few start-of-term announcements. Please line up, and follow me." Professor Dumbledore explained as he turned and with a wave of his hand the large double doors opened before him.

The great hall, as the professor had called it, truly was a _great hall_. There were four elongated tables, each with a large banner hanging above it. On the far left was the green and silver banner depicting a serpent to represent Slytherin house, the next had a large Blue and white banner with a large raven for Ravenclaw, then there was the Scarlet and gold banner with a roaring lion for Gryffindor, and finally, a yellow and Black banner with a badger representing Hufflepuff house. Large fire-lit sconces lined the walls, and at the opposite end from where they entered was a large table where the Professors were seated.

Hermione's eyes automatically sought out Tom at the Slytherin table, and he nodded to her when he caught her eye. He was sitting at the far end of the table, with an open seat between him and the next boy, presumably waiting for her to join him. She returned her attention to the front of the room where the students had begun the sorting. She watched as an old brown tattered hat was placed on the heads of each of the students, before it called out the name of the house which the student had been placed. When her name was called, she once again felt a nervous flutter in her stomach. She took a deep breath and stepped up to the stool, taking a seat as the tattered hat was lowered over her head.

" _Interesting, very interesting. It's been some time since someone of royal blood has graced the halls of this castle, now where shall we put you?"_

' _Royal Blood?' she questioned silently_

" _Yes, your heritage is an old one, of that I am sure. Like those who came before you, you radiate intelligence and hold a loyalty beyond measure; there is talent and bravery, oh yes, and cunning to be sure…though the best fit for you, my dear, is GRYFFINDOR!_ "

Hermione felt her heart stop for a moment and her eyes widen as she met Tom's shocked expression. She was dimly aware of Professor Dumbledore congratulating her, and ushering her towards the table beneath the red and gold banner. _No, this wasn't right, she was supposed to be with Tom!_

She slipped numbly into the seat beside another first year boy with messy black hair and blue eyes, who gave her a small smile. She didn't dare look at Tom, she didn't want to see the disappointment in his eyes.

"The name's Charlus. Charlus Potter." The boy said as he extended his hand to her.

Hermione did her best to smile back, despite the guilt twisting her gut, and shook his hand politely, "Hermione Granger."

"Gryffindor's the best, you'll see. Do you play Quidditch?" he asked

Hermione recalled that Quidditch was some sort of a sport that wizards enjoyed while flying on brooms, and instantly recalled her fear of heights and shook her head quickly, "No, I'm not much for flying." The fact that witches and wizards _actually_ flew on brooms still came as something of a shock.

"That's too bad, Gryffindor's sure to win the house cup this year. My older brother is the seeker for the Gryffindor team." He said as he nodded towards another dark haired boy who shared a familial resemblance, "That's Fleamont. He can be a right prat sometimes, but he's a brilliant seeker." Charlus said with a hint of admiration in his voice.

Hermione nodded politely, as Charlus introduced her to the other Gryffindors who were sitting near them, and to Hermione's relief they all seemed nice enough, nothing like the kids at Wool's.

The food also helped take her mind off of her predicament. The feast was better than anything she could have imagined, even better than any of the extravagant holiday dinners she could remember having with her parents when they were alive.

After the feast, the students were escorted by their house Prefect to their dormitories. The Gryffindor common room and dormitories were located, behind a portrait known as 'the fat lady', to her amusement, on the fifth floor. The prefects gave them the password and escorted them inside, where the large common room, decorated not so subtly in red and gold hues, was filled with plush couches and tables where the students could relax or do their homework if they chose. Hermione shared a dormitory with three other first year girls, Tessandra Weasely, or as she preferred to be called, 'Tessie', as well as Augusta Longbottom, and Minerva McGonagall. Each of the girls had quickly found their beds, with their trunks placed neatly at the foot.

Hermione opened her trunk and found her text books, and extra school uniforms inside, along with her class schedule.

She was shaken from her thoughts when she heard the other girls giggling. It was clear when she looked over and saw them all sitting on Minerva's bed, that they all knew each other prior to arriving at Hogwarts. It seemed strange, that she and Tom had only learned about their magic just before getting their Hogwarts letters, yet these girls seemed like they belonged here, that this castle was nothing they hadn't expected it to be.

"Granger. That's a muggle name, isn't it?" Augusta asked bluntly, while the other two girls looked at Hermione curiously.

Hermione cleared her throat, "I'm not sure what you mean. I'm not a muggle, I have magic, just like you." She answered defensively.

"Well of course you do, or you wouldn't be here, would you?" The black haired girl, Minerva, said pointedly.

"What Augusta means is, you're a muggleborn, aren't you? Your parents were muggles?" Tessie asked in a more gentle tone.

Hermione's brows furrowed, "Aren't everyone's?" Hermione asked in confusion, and knew instantly that wasn't the case when all three girls shared a look.

"Not exactly, no…we're pureblooded, you see. Our parents have magic, as do our grandparents, and so on." Tessie answered.

"Does that make me different then?" Hermione answered questioningly, already sensing that it did.

"You could say that. In fact, you probably shouldn't tell anyone. _We_ aren't judging you, of course…" Tessie said quickly, and Minerva nodded in agreement adding, "But there are those that _would_."

Hermione knew instantly, that she was referring to Slytherin House.

"You mean the Slytherins."

Augusta nodded, "Yes, bunch of bigoted peacocks, if you ask me."

Hermione furrowed her brows, "But Tom-"she began

"Tom Riddle? I've heard he's something of an outcast. If the rumors are true, he's the first muggleborn ever sorted into Slytherin, and the lot of them aren't too pleased about that. Gryffindors are much more accepting than most other houses."

Hermione's heart broke when she heard that, but was relieved that she had been spared the same fate in Gryffindor.

"Why is there so much hatred towards muggleborns?" Hermione asked, wanting to understand.

"You probably haven't heard of Grindelwald then, have you?" Tessie asked raising her eyebrows in surprise.

"No…should I have?" Hermione answered, making a mental note to research that name in the library when she had a chance.

"Grindelwald is a dark wizard. He's also a blood purist. He believes that muggles, if given the knowledge that magic exists, will destroy the wizarding world, just as they cannot help but destroy themselves. He was a big supporter of the statute of secrecy." Tessie explained, "Essentially, he heartily agreed with Salazar Slytherin's beliefs that only those who come from magical bloodlines are worthy to study magic."

"And that is also the reason Slytherins hate muggleborns. Many of the old pureblood families support Grindelwald." Minerva added with a look of distaste.

Hermione asked the question she was dreading since this conversation began, "And what does Grindelwald think should be done with muggleborns?"

Augusta scoffed, "Kill them, of course."


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter!**

 **AN: Lots of awesome guesses about the wand! I am loving that you guys are loving this fic...it's been so much fun to write, and I have so much more of the story to tell. I have two more chapters after this one currently written so far, so once I catch up, updates probably wont be quite as frequent...I'll have little time for writing over the next 2 weeks unfortunately, but by early July, I should be able to dive back in! Same with Confessions of the Head girl, I only have chapters 7 and 8 written already...so hopefully you guys will bear with me! xoxo Please leave a review!**

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Despite the softness of her new bed, sleep was hard to come by that night. She had been so excited to join this new wonderful world, only to discover that people like her and Tom were looked down upon, for circumstances quite beyond their control. Not only that, but learning of the attacks committed by the powerful dark wizard, Grindelwald, against innocent muggleborn witches and wizards, _frightened_ her. There was still so much she didn't know, and she hated feeling like she was at a disadvantage; most of the other students grew up knowing about magic, where she and Tom had not.

Having given up on sleep as the sun began to peek over the horizon, Hermione climbed out of bed and padded over to the girl's shared bathroom and readied herself to face the day. Once she was dressed in her school uniform, she packed her bag with the text books she would need for the days lessons, and stowed her wand in the pocket of her robe. After being trapped on one of the moving staircases and taking two wrong turns, she eventually found her way back to the great hall, where she noticed a few other early risers eating breakfast, mostly at the Ravenclaw table. There was one lone person seated at the Slytherin table, and she wasn't at all surprised to see that it was Tom. His eyes locked with hers as she stood in the entrance, and she gave him a small smile, hoping he wasn't still angry with her. The smile faded from her lips when he scowled at her, and turned back pointedly to his breakfast. Having little choice, she made her way to the Gryffindor table, and nodded politely in greeting to the few other Gryffindor's already seated, before taking her own seat. Breakfast was just as impressive as dinner had been the night before; there were large bowls of fruit, warm porridge, buttered toast, scrambled eggs (not runny!), and even bacon. Hermione took a few slices of bacon, a spoonful of eggs, and some toast, before filling her cup of tea and fishing her course schedule out from her bag.

"Have you had any trouble finding your way around? The staircases can be a bit tricky at first." one of the older Gryffindors seated diagonally across from her asked.

Hermione recognized the girl from the feast the night before and gave her a kind smile, "Actually, I did have a bit of trouble with the stairs this morning." Hermione admitted sheepishly.

"Don't worry, we've all been stuck on a staircase or two at least once. I'm Euphemia Prewett by the way, but you can call me Effy…everyone does." She smiled kindly.

"Hermione Granger. It's nice to meet you." Hermione said politely as her eyes darted back towards the Slytherin table. Tom was openly glaring at her now.

Effy noticed where Hermione was looking, and grimaced, "Don't mind them. They're like that to everyone that's not wearing green and silver."

"Oh, Tom and I are friends, it's not like that." Hermione answered quickly, not wanting Effy to think poorly of Tom because he was a Slytherin.

Effy raised an eyebrow, "That's not what it looks like to me."

Hermione sighed and pushed the remainder of her plate away, "He's just upset because he expected me to be in Slytherin with him, and well…I'm here instead."

Effy chuckled at this, "Well, it's not as if you had much of a choice, Hermione. The sorting hat decides that, not us; not that I can imagine anyone purposely choosing to be sorted _there_."

Hermione bit back a small smile and couldn't help but agree with that assessment after everything she'd learned the night before. They finished their breakfast in a companionable silence, and Hermione waved goodbye to Effy before she picked up her bag and headed towards the library. She still had two hours before class was due to start, and she wanted to research as much as she could before then.

When she reached the library, her mouth gaped open as she took in the towering stacks of books that seemed to go on for miles, and a small laugh bubbled up before she could stop it.

"What are _you_ so happy about?" Tom's voice came from behind her and she spun around quickly to face him.

"Tom. You scared me, I-" she began before he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the back of the library to a somewhat secluded table.

"You were supposed to be in Slytherin." He snapped, crossing his arms over his chest.

Hermione's brows furrowed, as her own irritation rose, "Tom, you make it sound as if I had a choice." She snapped back.

"We were supposed to be _together_ , Hermione, you left me alone!" He said continuing on as if she hadn't spoken.

"I didn't!" she protested, "The sorting hat put me in Gryffindor!"

Tom turned away from her and took a deep breath, getting his anger under control.

"You _said_ nothing would change. I don't want to do this without you." Hermione whispered, reaching out a hand hesitantly and touching his shoulder.

At her touch, his body seemed to relax a bit, and he turned back around to face her with an unreadable expression.

She took a step towards him, and wrapped her arms around his waist, tucking her head beneath his chin, "I'm _yours_ , remember?"

The corner of his lips twitched, despite his previous anger and he draped his arms around her stiffly to return her embrace.

The silence was broken when he asked, "So why did the sorting hat put you in Gryffindor?"

Hermione stepped away from him and dropped down in one of the seats at the table, gesturing for him to take the other seat.

"That's the strange thing; it said something about royal blood. What do you think it meant?"

Tom's eyebrows rose at that, and tapped his chin with his index finger deep in thought.

"I bet it has something to do with that wand. The box it was in certainly wasn't like any other wand case I've ever seen." Tom speculated.

"Do you think so?" Hermione asked as he ran her fingers over the smooth wood of the wand that rested in her robe pocket.

"I'm sure of it." Tom said with a determined look and he got up and went looking for a book on wand lore.

When Tom returned, Hermione took one of the books and proceeded to scan it, looking for any mentions of a wand that was similar to hers. After an hour of reading quietly together at the table, they were no closer to finding anything on the polished Hawthorne wand.

"Class will start soon, what do you have first?" he asked noting the time.

Hermione pulled her class schedule out and brightened, "History of Magic".

Tom chuckled, "Good luck, Professor Binns is dreadfully boring."

Hermione bristled, wondering how anyone could classify any of their classes as 'boring'.

"Trust me, you'll see." Tom said with a smirk

"So what class do you have then?" she asked raising an eyebrow

Tom wrinkled his nose, "Divination."

Hermione chuckled this time, "Sounds like a load of rubbish if you ask me."

 **oOo0oOo**

When Hermione entered the History of Magic classroom, she was happy to see that Minerva had saved her a seat.

"What do you think we're going to learn about today?" Hermione asked excitedly as she pulled out her text book, some parchment, ink, and a quill.

Minerva flipped open her book to chapter one, and pointed to an image of an older looking wizard with a long grey beard wearing royal blue robes, holding a wooden staff.

"Considering Professor Binns mostly just reads from the text book," Minerva said with a roll of her eyes, "I'd wager today's lesson will be about Merlin."

Despite Minerva's less than enthusiastic answer, Hermione recalled Tom had told her that Merlin was considered the greatest wizard that had ever lived, and had suggested she read about him.

"Good morning, class" a monotone voice came from the back of the room, and Hermione looked up from her text in shock.

A greyish-blue apparition of an old man with spectacles perched on his nose floated from the back of the classroom to the front, as the class muttered in unison, "Good Morning Professor Binns."

The professor was a _ghost?_!

Minerva caught Hermione's shocked expression and chuckled, then leaned over to whisper quietly, "Yes Granger, he's a ghost. Now close your mouth before you catch flies."

Hermione listened to the ghostly Professor with rapt attention, despite that fact that she noticed several of her housemates dozing off. While she could agree his teaching methods left much to be desired, she found the legend of Merlin utterly fascinating. Before the class was dismissed, the Professor assigned them an essay.

The class filed out, and she made her way to her next class, Potions, which was a double period with first and second year slytherins.

It took some time for her to find her way down to the dungeons, but she managed to spot a group of Slytherin students who looked to be in the same year as herself, and followed them into the classroom.

"Come in! Come in! Find an empty seat!" The Professor, who she noted faintly resembled a walrus due to his long mustache and rounded belly, called to the students as they filed in.

"You'll be working in pairs for the majority of the term, so whomever you are sitting next to shall be your lab partner for the duration."

Hermione brightened when she saw an open seat beside Tom, and slipped into it.

He looked up in surprise and looked around quickly before he gave her a small smile in return.

She leaned in to whisper, "We have a class together!"

Tom grimaced, no doubt aware that his housemates and hers would be silently judging them, "Yeah, how fortunate." He said, and Hermione frowned at his less than pleased tone.

"What's wrong?" she whispered sharply

" _Later_." Was all he said as he turned his focus to the blackboard, and began copying down the notes.

Potions, Hermione discovered, was not something that came easily to her. She followed the directions written in the text book as precisely as possible, yet, it was Tom who was the one to question some of the steps, choosing to do things a bit differently, as if he was seeing something she was not. Thankfully, their potion turned out perfectly, which earned ten points and high praise from Professor Slughorn. By the end of the lesson, Hermione was frustrated as the students began to file out of class for lunch.

"What's got you so worked up?" he asked as she huffed in irritation

"Why should we follow the instructions in the book, if they are _wrong_?" she asked

Tom scoffed, "they're not wrong, you can still brew the potion by following the instructions in the book, it's just that there's room for improvement." Tom answered with a shrug.

Hermione gaped at him, "How do _you_ know where to make the improvements, then?" she questioned.

The corner of Tom's lips curved up into a smirk at her tone, "It just seems logical to me, is all."

Hermione raised her eyebrow at him incredulously, before she turned around to leave.

"Hermione?" He called after her once all the other students had filed out of the classroom, and she stopped, crossing her arms over her chest expectantly as she turned to face him, "Yes?"

"Meet me in the library later?" he asked with a hopeful tone.

Her eyes softened, and she couldn't help but give him a small smile, "Of course, I'll head there after dinner."

His smile was more genuine now, she noticed, as she turned and made her way up to the great hall for lunch.

 **oOo0oOo**

After dinner, she made her way to the library, to find that Tom was already sitting at the table they had shared that morning, with a pile of books spread out around him.

"What are you working on?" she asked as she took a seat across from him, and he looked up sharply to meet her gaze, as if he hadn't heard her approach.

"Oh, just doing a bit of light reading." He said as he quickly closed the book that had been open in front of him, and stuffed it into his bag.

"Well, I wish I had time for that, I have loads of essays to write." Hermione sighed as she pulled out her parchment, ink, and quill. Before she stood to go look for the books she would need, she turned back to him and gave him a questioning look.

"Why were you acting strange in class earlier?"

He sighed, and met her questioning gaze with an unreadable expression, "Hermione, I'm sure by now you've heard about Slytherin Houses' reputation. How do you think it would look if I was seen talking to _you_?"

"You said-" she began indignantly, until he held up his hand for her to lower her voice

"I know what I said; it's just that not only are you a Gryffindor, but you're a _muggleborn_ as well."

"As are you!" she shot back accusingly, and he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"Look, if you were in Slytherin, I could have protected you, but I can't do that now. If I am to win them over, I need to _fit in_." he said willing her to understand.

She felt a stab of pity for him suddenly. He had grown up in a world that he never felt he belonged to, only to discover he wouldn't be accepted within the wizarding world either. She nodded sadly, in understanding.

"We can still meet in the library…" he offered lacing his fingers through hers, giving her an apologetic look.

"I _hate_ Slytherin." She said suddenly, and he looked back up at her sharply.

"Don't say that."

"Why not? It's true. Most of them would see us dead if they had their way."

Tom scoffed, "Who told you that?"

"Augusta Longbottom. She told me about Grindelwald, and how there have been attacks on muggleborns. She told me that they call our kind _mudbloods_ , Tom." Hermione explained.

She saw his jaw tighten at the mention of Grindelwald, but he waved his hand dismissively, "It's not true; do you believe everything the _Gryffindors_ tell you?" he challenged.

Hermione sighed, she didn't want to fight with him, if the only time they would be able to spend together would be in a secluded part of the library.

"I don't want to argue, let's just enjoy the time we do have together, then." She said as she stood to go collect her books.

It was an hour later, as she was flipping through what was surprisingly a muggle book, _The Tales of King Arthur_ , for her History of Magic class, when she gasped in surprise and shoved the book towards Tom.

"Tom, look!" she pointed to the image in the book that depicted Nimue, also known as the lady of the lake, and she was holding a pale wooden wand with darker striations that looked _a lot_ like hers.

Tom looked closely at the image, turning the book this way and that, "It looks similar, but it's probably just a coincidence."

"I don't think so…look here; it says, ' _Merlin had become enchanted with Nimue, but she did not return his affections; she made him promise not to use magic to make her love him, and even went so far as to seduce him in exchange for sharing his magic. When she grew strong enough, she trapped him in a Hawthorne tree, where he remained for eternity_.'"

"So?" Tom asked, wondering where she was going with this.

"Tom, my wand is made of _Hawthorne_. Maybe this is what the sorting hat meant when it said ' _Royal Blood_ '?" Hermione said as she pulled her wand from her robe pocket so he could look at it.

Tom laughed, "Honestly, Hermione, you don't really believe that, do you? I mean, your parents were _muggles_." he chuckled.

She scowled, "I'm not sure what to believe, I mean, why do I have this wand, and why would the Sorting hat say that if I'm just another muggleborn witch?"

Tom shrugged, "I don't know."


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter!**

 **AN: Hi all, Thank you all so much for your continuing support! Here is chapter 8...I'll leave my AN at the end so as to not spoil anything! Leave a review! xo**

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The next day, Hermione found her way to the great hall without getting lost, and felt a bit better after having smoothed things over with Tom. She still wasn't happy that they had to keep their friendship a secret, but if it would make things a little easier on him, she would oblige him. After eating a hearty breakfast, she headed to her first transfiguration class. She had known that this was Professor Dumbledore's subject, and she was looking forward to the lesson with him. From what she had read in _Hogwarts: A History_ , Albus Dumbledore was considered to be one of the most renowned Transfiguration masters, in the world.

"Good morning class!" the Professor's voice came from the back of the room as he strode to the front. As he neared his desk, he waved his hand at the apple that was sitting upon it, and the students made a sound of surprised delight as it transformed before their eyes into a pair of small half-moon spectacles that floated through the air towards the professor. He plucked them from the air, settling them over his nose with a chuckle, "'Ah, much better."

Hermione found herself captivated by the lesson and was pleased that by the end of the hour, she had leaned not only how to change her hair from brown to blond then back again with a flick of her wand, but she had also earned twenty points for Gryffindor. At the end of the lesson, as the class was beginning to file out, she approached Professor Dumbledore's desk.

"Ah, Miss Granger, I've been meaning to find time to speak with you. How are you settling in?" He asked kindly.

"Very well, Professor, thank you." She said as she stood in front of his desk fidgeting nervously.

"I believe the more important question is how Mister Riddle is coping with your sorting?" he asked knowingly.

Hermione frowned slightly at the reminder of Tom, and admitted, "Not as well as I would have hoped."

"I see." He said as pulled thoughtfully on his beard, and then brightened saying, "I'm sure eventually, he'll come 'round."

"Professor, may I ask you something?" Hermione said as she wrung her hands nervously as she stood before his desk.

When the professor gestured for her to continue, she asked what she most wanted to know.

"The sorting hat said something about 'Royal Blood' during my sorting…Do you know what it meant?"

Professor Dumbledore sighed, and seemed to be considering her question thoughtfully.

"Miss Granger, I do believe this is a conversation that requires more than a few moments between classes. I believe you have a free period this afternoon?"

"Yes, professor." She answered, feeling hope flare in her chest that he might finally shed some light on the things she had been wondering about for the last week.

"Then I shall expect you in my office directly after lunch." He said with a kind smile, though there was something in his eyes that made him look a bit older than he was.

Hermione nodded, and pulled her bag over her shoulder as she headed out of the classroom and to her next class.

 **oOo0oOo**

After lunch, she headed directly to Professor Dumbledore's office, and reached up a small hand to knock on the heavy wooden door.

"Enter", came the voice of her professor, so she lifted the handle and pushed open the door. His office was larger than she would have expected, with several different instruments whirring and spinning on his desk that she dare not touch. There was also a large red bird, perched on a pedestal looking down at her critically with golden eyes.

She tilted her head as she admired him, wondering what sort of bird had long red feathers and eyes the color of the sun.

"Fawkes is a Phoenix, Miss Granger." The professor's voice came from behind her, and she jumped not having noticed him standing by the bookshelves when she walked in. When she only stared back at him in wonder, and then back at the bird, the professor chuckled warmly.

"The Phoenix is a fascinating creature. They are immortal, really; when they reach the end of their life cycle, they burst into flames, only to be re-born from the ashes, and on it goes."

"He's beautiful." Hermione breathed in awe, as Fawkes inclined his heard towards her, and squawked.

"He says, 'Thank you very much.'" Professor Dumbledore smiled as he took a seat behind his desk.

"You can understand him?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"Of course. Fawkes is my familiar, Miss Granger. When a witch or wizard bonds with their familiar, they can communicate freely. One day, I'm sure you will have a familiar of your own. Now, I believe you have some questions?"

Hermione nodded and took a seat opposite the professor's desk, and pulled her Hawthorne wood wand from her pocket, and set it gently on his desk in front of her.

"Professor, who did this wand belong to?"

Rather than answer her directly, Professor Dumbledore sat back in his seat and steepled his fingers in front of him.

"What do you know of your family, Miss Granger?" He asked instead.

Hermione furrowed her brows at the question, "They were muggles, Professor. My father was Mason Granger, of Granger and Drablow Equities and Holdings. He and my mother, Suzannah, married at a young age. My grandparents on my father's side passed away two years ago, though I never met my maternal grandparents. Mother told me they died before I was born. Why?" she asked in confusion.

"Your mother was not a muggle, Miss Granger. She was a Squib." The Professor said delicately, looking decidedly uncomfortable.

"A Squib, professor?" Hermione asked, not sure what that meant.

"A Squib is a term used for those born of magical blood who are unable to do magic themselves."

His words hit Hermione like a punch to the stomach, and her hand flew to her mouth as bile rose in the back of her throat. _All those years…the hospital visits, making her feel like a freak…_

Hermione willed her voice not to shake in anger when she asked, "Did she _know_?"

The professor gave her a sympathetic look, realizing how hard this must be for her to hear.

"You must understand, Miss Granger, that Squibs are not treated kindly by our society; often times, as was the case with your mother, she was disowned by her family. She chose to leave the magical world to live as a muggle. Do not judge her so harshly."

Hermione's hands were trembling with rage as she took in his words; _Don't judge her so harshly?_ The woman who had her own daughter _committed_ because she was jealous of her magic?

"With all due respect, Professor, I believe that is for me to decide." Hermione snapped angrily, before she was able to stop herself.

The professor nodded in understanding, having the good grace to look contrite.

"Your mother's family was descended from the oldest of magic; their lineage has been traced back to the earliest days. For many years, it was believed that the line had died out with your maternal grandparents, however…here you sit." The professor explained.

"I don't understand, who am I descended from, Professor? Who owned this wand?" She asked imploringly as she leaned forward grasping the Hawthorn wood between her fingers, feeling its contented hum.

"That wand has once belonged to Morgraine Selwyn, Isolde Black, Yvaine Pendragon, The lady Guinevere, and of course, Nimue herself."

The blood drained from Hermione's face at her Professor's words. _She was descended from Nimue?_

"I know this is a lot to take in, Miss Granger, and I'm sure you must have many questions." The professor said kindly as he took in her shocked expression.

"I didn't know." She breathed, still trying to wrap her brain around what he had just told her.

"If I'm not mistaken, Professor Binns has assigned an essay on this very subject for your History of Magic class, has he not?" he asked, his eyes twinkling with mischief.

Hermione gave a small smile, and the question must have been plain to see in her expression when he chuckled and answered, "He's assigned the same essay to the first years for the last thirty-five years."

Hermione bit back a smile, not the least bit surprised by her ghostly professor's predictability after experiencing his teaching methods first hand.

"Thank you for telling me, Professor." Hermione said as she stood, stuffing her wand back into her robe pocket.

"Oh, and Miss Granger? Do not feel obligated to tell anyone of your true lineage. There are those that may judge you unfairly without it; however there are those who would try to exploit you for their own gain, should you embrace it. I'll leave it up to you to decide. Good day." He said in what sounded like a warning before she turned and left his office.

The rest of her classes passed by in a blur, and she could do little but stare at her wand as it sat on her desk, looking for all the world like a non-descript bit of wood. How could her mother have hidden something like this from her? It was her _birth-right_. She decided to skip dinner that night, her appetite having long since fled, and instead made her way to the library. She grabbed every book she could find about Merlin and Nimue, grateful that she was able to kill two birds with one stone; while she completed her essay, she would be able to learn about her family's history.

It was over an hour later when she heard Tom's voice behind her as he approached their table.

"You don't still believe that that wand belonged to Nimue do you, because-" Tom began before she cut him off.

"It's true. Professor Dumbledore told me this afternoon." Hermione said without looking up, still making notes on the piece of parchment in front of her.

Tom frowned and sat heavily in the seat opposite her.

"You're _lying_. Your parents were muggles, Hermione." Tom snapped placing his hand over hers so she would stop writing and look at him.

The reminder of her mother's betrayal brought a fresh wave of anger as she wrenched her hand out from beneath Tom's.

"My _father_ was a muggle. My mother _lied_ to me." She snapped angrily.

"Your mother was a witch?" he asked in disbelief, giving her a skeptical look.

"She was a squib, according to Professor Dumbledore." Hermione answered quietly, focusing on the quill she was twirling between her fingers.

"Well that's good then, isn't it? It means you're not a _mudblood_ after all." Tom said bitterly as he pulled his books out from his bag and setting them on the desk in front of him with a little more force than necessary.

Hermione stilled, and looked at him in shock, "Tom, don't use that word-" she began before he cut her off with an angry snarl

"Why not? It's what I _am_ , isn't it? How could I forget when I'm reminded every single day…" he trailed off before he added quietly, "One day, I'm going to make them _all_ pay."

Her stomach clenched at his words, and she was once again reminded how cruel fate had been by sorting him into Slytherin.

"Tom, it makes no difference to me, you know that. _You're all I have_." Hermione said softly as she reached out her hand and placed it on his arm until he seemed to relax.

"I know" he said quietly and shifted her hand back to the table and cleared his throat awkwardly as he changed the subject.

 **oOo0oOo**

The next few weeks passed in a blur of classes, and Hermione hadn't even realized what day it was until she received a note during dinner.

 _Hermione,_

 _Meet me on the seventh floor after dinner, there's something I want to show you._

~Tom

She furrowed her brows, wondering what it could be. Usually, they spent most evenings together in the library at their secluded spot, but today he wanted to meet her on the seventh floor. What was on the seventh floor? She had only been up there once, and other than some old classrooms, and the stairwell to the astronomy tower, there was nothing of note.

She met his eyes across the room and gave him a brief nod, and went back to eating her dinner.

"Hermione, do you have any plans for Christmas this year?" Charlus asked from beside her in an attempt to make conversation, and she frowned. She didn't want to broadcast that she had nowhere to go for Christmas, but she also wasn't certain that she and Tom would be allowed to stay at Hogwarts over the break; she'd have to remember to speak with Professor Dumbledore about that.

"Oh, nothing set in stone yet, I'm afraid. What about you?" She asked politely.

"My parents are taking us to France. Something about wanting us to see more of the world before we graduate. Personally, I'd much rather stay at Hogwarts; at least here I can play quidditch." He scowled pushing the food around on his plate.

"France is a lovely country. I'll bet you love it there, and won't even miss your broom." Hermione said smiling as she turned back to her food.

"Did you travel there with your parents? It was a _Muggle_ city that you visited, wasn't it?" Tessie asked curiously from across the table.

Hermione cleared her throat, not wanting to discuss her parents, or her heritage with anyone, "Yes. Mostly we visited the beaches along the French Riviera; I especially enjoyed the art galleries."

"I do so love the ocean, though no matter what I do, I'm always pale. I've tried tanning spells, and even rubbing myself in oil, nothing works." Minerva frowned.

Augusta chuckled, "It seems your Scottish complexion is as stubborn as you are!"

Grateful for the turn in conversation, Hermione quietly finished her dinner, and excused herself to meet Tom.

* * *

 **AN: and there you have it! Her mother was a squib, and Hermione is descended from Nimue...I'll elaborate further on her family tree in a later chapter, but yup! We also got to see some hints as to what Tom thinks about all the blood purity, and why...which I think is really important. We'll see a bit more in the next chapter as well. I hope you all are enjoying this as much as I'm enjoying writing it! xo**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter!**

 **AN: Hi guys! sorry for the delay - I've had a HUGE project I was working on for the last couple weeks, and that kept me from being able to do any writing...but here you go! Another chapter, and I will also be working on all of my other WIP's if you are waiting for ay of those as well. I'll leave another AN down bottom so as to not give anything away in this chapter!**

* * *

Hermione quickly lost herself in her thoughts on her way to the seventh floor, thinking back on all that had happened since she'd arrived at Hogwarts. Fate, it seemed was a funny thing; If she had never met Tom that afternoon by the tide pool, she never would have learned that magic was real. A bubble of rage welled up in her once more when the thought brought with it memories that she would much rather forget...

' _Please, mother, I don't want to go!'_

' _I'm sorry, Hermione, but you brought this on yourself. Your father and I have tried to help you time and again, but you leave us little choice.'_

' _I'll make it stop, I will! Please mother, don't leave me here!'_

She shook herself from her thoughts and was brought back to the present when she heard a muffled cry of pain. Her heart began to race, and her feet were moving before she knew what she was doing. She stopped just at the edge of the corridor, hidden by the shadows, and her blood ran cold when she saw that Tom was on his knees surrounded by four older Slytherins, and she could just make out what they were saying.

"You think no one's noticed what you've been up to, Riddle, you filthy mudblood? How dare you even _think_ that someone with such _dirty blood_ could be related to the noble Salazar Slytherin! This will teach you… _Crucio_."

Hermione watched in horror as Tom fell backwards, writhing on the ground with his mouth open wide in a silent scream as the Slytherins laughed.

A fierce need to protect Tom rushed through her then, and she lifted her wand in the air, as a giant serpent made up of blue fire sprang from the tip, racing towards the aggressors. Tom's body went slack as the curse was broken, though their shrieks of fear could be heard as they desperately tried to run from the inferno that was licking at their heels. She didn't spare a glance to see if any of them had been burned, her only focus was Tom.

 _Please be all right…I can't do this without you!_

She dropped to her knees beside him, and pulled his head into her lap as tears slipped down her cheeks.

"Tom? Tom! Please wake up…" she pleaded as she focused all of her concentration on willing him to wake up.

She breathed a sigh of relief when he suddenly inhaled sharply as his eyes snapped open, filled with unshed tears, before they seemed to finally settle on her face.

"Happy Birthday" He croaked in a hoarse whisper as his eyes found hers.

She let out a choked sob, as she threw her arms around his neck.

"You've just been tortured, and you're thinking about my _bloody birthday_?" she scolded as she began to check him over. There were no visible injuries that she could find, though she was sure that the Slytherins had planned it that way; no physical injuries meant no evidence.

"I'm fine, quit fussing over me." He said as he made to stand, though she noticed his hand was still giving an odd twitch every so often.

"You're not _fine_ , Tom, you need to report this." Hermione said as she stood back watching him, ready to assist should he need her help.

"NO! it would only make things worse." Tom snapped, smoothing his hands through his disheveled hair.

"We can't let them get away with this! What if they do it again?" Hermione protested, waving her hands angrily for emphasis.

"They won't." Tom said coldly, effectively ending the conversation with a look that chilled her to the bone.

"All…alright." She acquiesced, and tried to change the subject.

"So what did you want to show me?" she asked meekly, hoping that he wasn't angry with her for trying to help him.

The remaining traces of anger left his face as he managed a small smile, and held out his hand for her to take, which had finally ceased it's awful twitching, "Come, I'll show you."

His fingers threaded through hers as he pulled her over to a large expanse of what looked like a bare stone wall, and he closed his eyes. Hermione gasped as a door appeared in the stone, and he gestured for her to open the door.

The sight the lay before her took her breath away; just on the other side of the door, lay a meadow made of lush green grass and wildflowers as far as the eye could see. There were small glowing objects that were flitting to and fro beneath a dazzling canopy of stars.

"Are those…?" she began to ask before he smirked and nodded.

"Fairies, yes."

He pulled her onto the meadow, away from the door that seemed as if it were magically suspended in the air, towards a large picnic blanket that was laden with small cakes.

"Happy Birthday, Hermione. Do you like it?" He said again, this time the smile he gave her made her heart skip a beat.

"Like it, Tom, I love it! How is this possible?" she laughed as she pulled him down beside her on the blanket, reaching out her hand to touch one of the passing fairies.

"This is the Room of Requirement. It can be whatever you wish it to be." Tom answered as he gazed at Hermione's profile as she looked around in wonder.

"You mean _you_ did this? For _me_?" she asked in surprise as she turned to look at him.

His cheeks were tinged pink, and he looked away from her trying to hide his grin, "I just thought you would like it, is all."

"Thank you." She said squeezing his fingers gently, letting him know how much she meant it.

"Now let's see if these cakes taste as good as they look!" she said laughing, as she picked up two small cakes and handed one to him.

 **oOo0oOo**

It was late by the time Hermione crept back into her dorm room in Gryffindor tower, so she had been expecting that everyone would be sound asleep.

"Lumos!" a voice whispered from behind her just as she was about to crawl into her four poster bed.

"Hermione? What were you doing out so late?" Minerva asked as she stood at the end of her bed, with her hand on her hip expectantly. For a girl nearing twelve, she sure knew how to look imposing.

"Oh…um, I was just…"

"You weren't sneaking out to see a _boy_ , were you?" Minerva asked scandalized.

"Well, not exactly…sneaking out I mean, I lost track of time is all." Hermione answered hoping the interrogation would end without Minerva reporting her to their head of house.

"But you _were_ with a boy…" Minerva asked giving her a knowing smirk.

When Hermione only stood there gaping at her helplessly, Minerva giggled, "Who was it then?"

"Are you going to report me?" Hermione asked uncertainly, though she had a feeling that she wouldn't.

"Not if you tell me what you were up to, and with _whom_." Minerva said raising an eyebrow in challenge.

Hermione let out a small sigh, hoping that Minerva could keep her mouth shut. The last thing she needed was to make more trouble for Tom.

"I was with Tom Riddle." Hermione admitted crossing her arms over her chest defensively.

Minerva gave a shocked gasp, "You were out with a _Slytherin_? How scandalous!"

"You have to promise me that you won't tell anyone. Besides, it's not like that between Tom and I; we just…he's my friend."

Minerva quickly nodded that she wouldn't tell, and let out a dreamy sigh, "Slytherin or not, he's bloody gorgeous, that one."

Hermione felt a pang of Jealousy at Minerva's words, though she gave her roommate a small smile as Minerva climbed back into her own bed.

"Well goodnight, then. Best be more careful though, next time it might be a prefect that catches you!"

"Goodnight." Hermione whispered as the room was once again plunged into darkness.

 **oOo0oOo**

As Hermione descended the grand staircase towards the Great Hall, she could hear some of the students talking in hushed whispers as she passed by.

"… _Bet they'll be in the hospital wing for a week!"_

"… _All of his bones in his legs were broken!"_

"… _heard one of them swallowed his own tongue…"_

"… _Seems sort of strange, doesn't it? Four Slytherins attacked in their own beds; I bet they'll still find some way to blame it on a Gryffindor!"_

A shiver ran down Hermione's spine; four Slytherins had attacked Tom last night.

"Hermione!"

She jumped as the familiar face of Charlus came up behind her.

"Have you heard about what's happened? The whole school is talking about it. There was an attack last night!" he said with an air of what Hermione could only describe as excitement, and she immediately felt nauseous.

"Four Slytherins were nearly killed. I bet old Dippet is shaking in his boots at the thought of notifying their parents about what happened." Charlus said shaking his head.

"What _did_ happen?" Hermione asked, not sure she wanted to know.

"No one knows exactly, only that Thorfin Rowle, Alexander Nott, Abraxas Malfoy, and Edmund Rosier were found by their roomate with some pretty nasty injuries early this morning."

Hermione didn't think she could stomach hearing about the nature of their injuries, though she concluded form the whispers she had overheard that they must have been ghastly.

"Do they know who did it?" Hermione asked, as a feeling of dread washed over her, twisting in her gut.

"I think the question is not so much 'who', but _what_." Charlus said shaking his head.

"Oh." Hermione answered distantly. She felt like she was going to be sick.

"Are you alright? You look pale." Charlus asked.

"I'm fine." She answered automatically, as her need to find Tom and hear his side of things became her only focus.

"I have to go." She said quickly and took off running towards the library, hoping that he would be at their table as he usually was in the morning. She desperately needed to hear him say he hadn't been there, _that he hadn't done it_.

She was breathing heavily from her sprint by the time she reached the table, and he looked up at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Hermione, what are you-" he began before she cut him off, quickly taking the seat across from him.

"Don't! Was it you?" she asked him bluntly, her heart hammering in her chest as his green eyes met hers unblinkingly.

"Do you feel _bad_ for them? After what they _did_?" Tom asked incredulously.

"Don't turn this around, they could have _died_ , Tom!" Hermione whispered fiercely.

"So could I!" he shouted, looking around quickly to make sure no one was nearby.

Hermione felt a pang of guilt at the memory of Tom lying motionless in her arms, and frowned.

"Tell me what I should've done, Hermione. They needed to be taught a _lesson_. They wouldn't have stopped."

"What if someone finds out? What if they tell?" she asked quickly, thinking that this was like Billy Stubbs all over again.

"They won't." he said quickly.

"How can you be sure?" Hermione whispered incredulously.

"Because they did it to _themselves._ " He finally admitted as he gave her a look indicating that the conversation was over.

It was then that her eyes fell on the title of the old leather bound book sitting just beneath his palm, _Secrets of the Darkest Art_ , that she understood; he had used dark magic.

* * *

 **AN: Dun dun dun...Tom's beginning to dabble...and by dabble, I mean use Unforgivables. Will Hermione still stand by him? We shall see...**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter!**

 **AN: Hi all! Not a super long chapter, but it ended at a breaking point that seemed right – the next chapter will be the start of the Christmas Holiday at Hogwarts! I hope you are all still reading and liking this story, I know it's "slow" in terms of their relationship progressing, but I don't want to rush this…I feel like the coming of age, and the development of their relationship will make that moment when it actually happens all the more exciting. Thanks in advance for your reviews and favorites! xo**

* * *

The passing days brought with it a flurry of rumors of _what_ or whom may have been behind the attacks on the four Slytherin students; Hermione had heard theories ranging from Grindelwald to the monster that resides in the Chamber of Secrets.

No one suspected that it could have been another student; no one that is, except for Hermione.

"It had to have been the monster, I mean, why would Grindelwald attack the children of his own supporters? It's the only thing that makes sense." Charlus said as he reached for a muffin.

"Actually, Potter, that makes even less sense. _Everyone_ knows that the monster is controlled by the Heir of Slytherin, and besides, they were all purebloods." Minerva argued, glancing at Hermione out of the corner of her eye.

"What does the legend say resides in the Chamber?" Hermione asked as she chewed thoughtfully on a strip of bacon.

"It is said to be home to a monster, but no one's ever seen it. In fact, I'd wager the whole thing's a load of dung. No one's ever found such a Chamber." She waved dismissively, "Grindelwald on the other hand, _is real_ , and he's a mad man."

Hermione excused herself, not wanting to hear any more, and made her way back to Gryffindor tower. She hadn't spoken to Tom since that morning in the library, the knowledge that he had used dark magic to injure another student heavy on her conscience, though guilt still twisted her gut every time she caught the pleading looks he sent her way.

 _Hadn't they tried to kill him? Was what he did really so different?_

Hermione sighed. Why was everything always so complicated when Tom Riddle was involved? He had almost killed Billy Stubbs back at the orphanage, yet he claimed to have done it to protect her. This was different; he could have reported them, and they likely would've been expelled, but instead he took the opportunity for revenge. It was _wrong_.

"Hermione?"

Shaken from her thoughts, she looked up to see Minerva standing beside her bed and looked up at her with a wide eyed expression.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, I just wanted to see if you were alright; you've been acting a bit… _odd_."

Hermione shook her head and was about to brush of her concern until Minerva spoke again.

"Actually, come to think of it, you've been acting strange since the night before the attack…the night you said you were out with Riddle."

Hermione blanched, _she couldn't mean…_

"You know something, don't you."

"It's not what you think-" Hermione began before Minerva held up her hand.

"Well I certainly don't think it was Grindelwald, and I know it's not some mythical monster, but if Riddle _did_ something-"

Hermione felt the blood freeze in her veins, and a surge of hot anger rise up inside of her.

"They could have _killed him_ , Minerva, and no one would have cared!" Hermione yelled as she shot to her feet with her hands balled into fists at her side.

"What are you talking about, Hermione?" Minerva asked in confusion.

"They've been tormenting him for _months_ , did you know? You yourself said that he was an outcast in his own house; they tried to _kill him_."

"Nonsense; Abraxas and the lot may be many things but they aren't murderers, Hermione." Minerva said crossing her arms.

Hermione raised an eyebrow in indignation, "They used an unforgivable on him, Minerva, I saw them!"

Minerva covered her mouth in shock. She knew the Slytherins weren't too happy about having a Muggleborn in their house, but she didn't think they'd ever resort to physical violence.

"Besides, Tom was with _me_ that night, as you well remember." Hermione added sheepishly, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment.

Minerva's lips twitched as she bit back a smile, "I do"

"Could you…could you keep what I said to yourself? Things are already hard enough on Tom as it is…" Hermione asked giving Minerva a small grateful smile.

"Absolutely. My lips are sealed."

 **ooOo0oOoo**

He was at their table in the library when she found him.

"Tom?"

Tom looked up sharply from the parchment he had been writing on with an unreadable expression.

"I wanted to talk to you…" she said quietly as she pulled out the chair opposite him and slid into the seat.

"About what?" he said flatly as he narrowed his eyes at her slightly. _Was he angry?_

"I just wanted to say-" she began before he cut her off

"What, that you're _sorry_? Sorry that you _left me_ after I dared to defend myself? _Spare me_." He scoffed.

Not angry then; he was _hurt_.

"Tom, I didn't _leave_ you, I just needed some time to think!" she shot back.

"Think about _what_ , Hermione? About the fact that those bastards had it coming? About the fact that I finally did something about it? That they got what they _deserved_?" he spat as he picked up his quill to resume his writing.

An echo of his words from the day Billy Stubbs was attacked flashed through her mind:

 _What happened out there, I did that for you. For us. That kid is scum, Hermione, and he deserved everything he got. Is that how you repay me? By helping him?_

"I lied to Minerva." She said quietly.

His quill stilled on the parchment, but he didn't look up.

"She knew you weren't exactly on good terms with the other Slytherins, and she asked if you'd _done_ something to them." Hermione admitted, biting her lip nervously.

"What did you say?" he asked as he met her gaze evenly.

"I told her that it was impossible, because…" Hermione trailed off, her cheeks reddening once again in embarrassment.

"Because?" he prompted, the corner of his lips twisting into a knowing smirk.

"Because you were _with me_." She said in a rush, covering her face with her hands.

Tom chuckled, "Better for her to think that I was too busy snogging you to attack my housemates. Clever."

Hermione shot him a glare.

"I'm still angry with you." She said as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Tom lifted an eyebrow at her expectantly, waiting for her to say what was on her mind.

"Dark magic is dangerous, Tom, promise me you won't use it again."

Tom ran his hand through his dark wavy hair as a look of annoyance crossed his face.

"Hermione, magic is just _magic_. It's neither dark nor light; there is only intent. My intent was not to murder innocents, unlike Grindelwald; my intent was to give them a taste of their own medicine… _to teach them a lesson._ "

"But you-"

"Do you trust me, Hermione?" he asked suddenly, cutting off whatever she was about to say.

She stilled. _Did she?_

She remembered there was a time not so long ago in the cave when he had trusted _her_ enough to share his secret.

"Yes." She answered, and she meant it.

"Good. Then let's not speak of this again."

 **ooOo0oOoo**

As the holiday season approached, Headmaster Dippet made an announcement at the leaving feast that the investigation into the attacks had reached its conclusion. Testing of the victim's wands revealed that they had perpetrated the attacks upon themselves, preceded by one of the unforgivable curses; the _Imperius_ curse. It came as no surprise when the students were only given a month's detention for what was considered a prank that got out of hand, rather than expulsion, seeing as that their parents sat on the Board of Governors. Additionally, access to the library's restricted section would be very tightly controlled, and protected by wards rather than the usual repelling charms.

Despite knowing what actually took place, Hermione was grateful that there was no longer talk of Grindelwald or some fictious monster roaming the castle's halls. She was equally relieved to note that Minerva had kept her word.

"I hear your staying at Hogwarts for Christmas? Lucky, that." Charlus sighed beside her as he tucked into his dinner. He had made it very clear that he had no desire to go to France with his parents for the Holiday break, and she begun to feel sorry for him until she remembered that she no longer _had_ parents to take her on vacations, whether or not she wanted to go.

"Honestly, Charlus, the quidditch pitch will still be here when you get back." Minerva rolled her eyes.

Hermione's eyes drifted to Tom's, and she felt her stomach flip at the thought that they would have two whole weeks to themselves, without having to worry about who might see them together. She knew there would be a handful of other students staying behind as well, but she knew none of them would be from Slytherin House.

As the feast drew to a close, the prefects gathered up their housemates, and shepherded them off to their respective dorms. In the morning, the majority of the student body would be boarding the Hogwarts Express to spend the holidays with their families.


End file.
